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Hello and welcome to all. Today I will make a brief presentation on my country Martina Franca. We begin with our points of interest in particular the church of San Martino, later the ducal palace and finally our historic center which is what Martina Franca represents. As far as our traditions are concerned, we have the Valle d'Itria Festival. For our economy, the breeding of the Murgese horse and the Martine donkey are very important. Instead our means of transport are the Miccolis bus, the train and even the taxi. Finally our famous people are on a comic level: Lucio Montanaro, Renzo Rubino in the field of music, Antonio Giovinazzi, Rossella Brescia, Donato Carrisi and Angelo Cervellera. This is my city.

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The Martina Franca donkey is a donkey breed selected in the area between the municipalities of Martina Franca, Alberobello, Locorotondo, Ceglie Messapica, Noci, Mottola, Massafra and Crispiano. The first post-war period, given the removal of numerous specimens by the Italian Royal Army during the Great War, as well as the use of most stallions for mule production, saw this breed on the brink of extinction. Many say that the martinian donkey derives from the Catalan donkey, but there are no reliable sources in this regard. It is more likely, instead of this extraordinary animal, to derive from a native breed of Martinese, crossed, only later with the Catalan donkey to improve it, albeit only in part.

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Angelo Cervellera was born in Martina Franca February 28, 1981 is a former Italian soccer referee. In 2003 he arrived in Serie D. In the following seasons he continued to referee in Serie B. In 2014 he was promoted to Serie A where he will direct 36 matches.

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Rosa Brescia, known as Rossella was born in Martina Franca on 20 August 1971, is a dancer, television presenter, radio host, actress and teacher of Italian dance. He has participated in several television programs including C'Mail for You and Friends of Maria De Filippi. Rossella Brescia has a dance school in Martina Franca where she teaches.

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Antonio Maria Giovinazzi was born in Martina Franca on December 14th 1993 he is an Italian racing driver, third Ferrari driver and, from 2019, Alfa Romeo Racing driver, with whom he raced the first two F1 races, at the time Sauber, in the 2017. He will make his Formula 1 debut in 2016 with Ferrari. Finally, on 25 September 2018, he was made official as the titular driver of Alfa Romeo Racing for 2019.

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Donato Carrisi was born in Martina Franca March 25, 1973 is an Italian writer, screenwriter, playwright, journalist and director, winner of the Bancarella Award in 2009 with Iligger and David di Donatello Award in 2018 with The Girl in the Fog.  Screenwriter of television series and for cinema. After studying at the Tito Livio high school in Martina Franca, he graduated in law, with a thesis on Luigi Chiatti, "the monster of Foligno". Then followed the specialization in criminology and behavioral sciences.

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Renzo Rubino, born Oronzo Rubino in Taranto on 17 March 1988, spent his entire childhood and adolescence in Martina Franca. He is an Italian singer-songwriter. He will begin his musical career with Sanremo Giovani, where he will make his debut. In 2014 he will make his debut in Sanremo and will be classified in third place while in 2018 he will reach the thirteenth place.

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Lucio Montanaro born in Martina Franca on 22 June 1951 is an Italian actor and comedian, active in the Italian cinema of the seventies and eighties. Montanaro begins his career with important parts, in which he often speaks in the vernacular of Puglia, although he is fluent in English and French. He has a variety of roles, from the student to the policeman, from the soldier to the pastor, to the bartender. He has worked with Lino Banfi, Mario Merola, Renzo Montagnani, Pippo Franco and Nino D'Angelo, just to name a few actors. It has important parts especially in Italian sexy comedies.

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The origins of the Murgese date back to Emperor Frederick II of Sweden who in the 13th century combined his passion for horses and love for Puglia, building one of the most beautiful and loved monuments in the world, Castel del Monte, a jewel of the medieval architecture and ordered that its warhorses be bred in the difficult Murge habitat, precisely to strengthen its limbs and hooves.

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The Valle d'Itria Festival of Martina Franca was born in 1975 on the initiative of a group of passionate music lovers led by Alessandro Caroli, first president of the Festival, with the decisive support of Franco Punzi, then Mayor of Martina Franca, and Paolo Grassi , then superintendent of the Teatro alla Scala. Since 1980, with the presidency of Franco Punzi and the artistic direction of Rodolfo Celletti, a great expert on vocals, the Festival has accentuated its original identity of revaluation of the belcantist repertoire and of the Neapolitan Music School of which great protagonists were the Apulian composers, although without neglecting the great European repertoire and, in particular, the enhancement of elements of Italian bel canto in works by foreign authors. Since 1975, over one hundred works have been presented at the Valle d’Itria Festival.

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The streets of Martina have a particular depression in the middle of the road, unlike the other modern roads that have instead the "donkey back" road surface. From an architectural point of view the historical center is mostly in baroque and rococo style, clearly visible in the churches (for example the already Collegiate, now basilica, of San Martino). Part of the current pavement was rebuilt in the 80s, but once the difference of the paved streets indicated the logistics of the historic center. In fact the main roads that led to the ancient gates, therefore outside the historic center, were made with black lava stone, while the labyrinthine ones that led to the interior were made with white stones. In some parts of the streets there is still this color difference.

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In the prestigious place where the castle of Raimondello Orsini was built in 1388, in 1668 the Ducal Palace of Martina Franca rises, work of the architect from Bergamo Giovanni Andrea Carducci, today seat of the municipal offices. Built between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries, the complex that dominates Piazza Roma was started in 1668 by Petracone V Caracciolo, who chose that place for his residence. In 1913 the building was sold and the new buyers made substantial changes. However, the complex assumed its present appearance in 1929, when radical restoration and completion works were carried out, to guarantee the functionality of the new municipal headquarters.

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The Basilica of San Martino is the main parish church of the city of Martina Franca, in the province of Taranto. Named after Martin of Tours, the basilica was built from 1747 to 1785, on an earlier Romanesque church. On April 22, 1998, Pope John Paul II elevated him to the dignity of a pontifical minor basilica. From Friday 27 September 2002 it has been declared by UNESCO "a messenger of a culture of peace". In 1747 the progressive demolition of the Romanesque temple was begun to replace the new rococo collegiate church: an event that was in itself relevant for the results achieved, but at the same time damaging for the irreparable loss of an enormous artistic heritage. The drastic decision was taken following the damage caused by the earthquake of 20 February 1743.