Located on a hilly area in the northern Salento at the border between the Murge of Brindisi and the Tavoliere of Lecce, it received the title of city in 1951. An important Messapian and later Roman center, the city was renown during the Middle Ages for its Jewish community. In fact, between the eighth and tenth centuries, the city of Oria reached its maximum cultural splendor. His prestige was due to the schools of his Jewish community. Among the best known teachers of Oria, Amittai, the nephew Amittai ben Shefatiah and the doctor Shabbetai Donnolo. Donnolo, thanks to his knowledge and his uncommon expertise, anticipates the archiator, a typical figure of the late Middle Ages. Amittai, Shefatiah, Amittai ben Shefatiah, Shabbatai ben Abraham Donnolo and Ahimāz ben Paltiel have produced a large amount of sources useful for the reconstruction of mystical thought, philosophy and Jewish mentality between the ninth and tenth centuries. The Jewish presence favored trade with the Fatimid Imamate, as they had contacts with their Egyptian and North African and in Sicilian Jewish communities.
Being located on the highest hills of a hilly cordon of ancient fossil dunes in northern Salento, Oria enjoys a dominant position on the surrounding Salento plain. The territory of Oria, compared to that of the neighboring municipalities, has always been characterized by springs and superficial waterway. Basically they are seasonal streams and the most relevant ones are the "Canale Pezza dell'abate" and the Canale Reale, both of them with springs located at the edges of the aforementioned hills.
The castle of Oria was built between 1227 and 1233 by order of Frederick II. It is located above a primitive Messapian acropolis and has an isosceles triangle shape. Among its imposing walls there are three impressive towers : the Square Tower, part of the original Swabian complex, the Torre Del Cavaliere and the Torre Del Salto, dating back to the Angevin period.
The entire building is built around an isosceles triangle courtyard. This parade ground could probably contain a high number of men in arms, between 3000 and 5000. Also in this courtyard, at the foot of Torre Del Salto (south-east), there is the access to the crypt of the SS. Crisanto and Daria. The entrance is marked by columns, perhaps belonging to an ancient Byzantine church, whose remains are visible on the southern wall arches of the castle. In the courtyard the access to an underground passage is still visible (it used to be hidden for security reason) and it was a secret passage to escape in case of siege. It is thought that this tunnel (now interrupted) proceeded underground for several kilometers, so much so that the town tradition recounts that it reached the city of Brindisi, located about 35 km (a clearly very exaggerated tradition).
Brought to light in 1822, the crypt is historically attributed to the will of Bishop Theodosius (ca. 850-895) to house the relics of saints Crisante and Daria received as a gift from Pope Stephen V. A stairway, opens in the courtyard of the Swabian castle and carved into the rock, allows access to the small building. It was buried in the XIII century during the restructuring phase of the area when the Frederick's building was built. How much the crypt extended at the time is not known, having been cut off at the fourth bell due to the construction of the foundation of the wall. Basically a longitudinal structure, the church is carved in the hill rock but in reality it is almost entirely built in blocks of carparo and has a single apse on the westside. The location of the apse west-oriented (typical of the pagan churches) suggests to scholars that the church exist prior the byzantine period and some think that it used to be a Messapian cult place. The domes are the oldest example in the region of "tholos" roof (later used in the trulli). Nothing of the primitive decorations and frescoes of the past has remained. Among the visible frescoes,only one is in a good state of preservation and bears the date of 1636 (the one with the image of Christ on the throne), the rest of them date back to the thirteenth century.
Oria still preserves two of the three original gates that gave access to the ancient city: Porta degli Ebrei (Jewish Gate), also known as Porta Taranto, because leading to this city, and Porta Lecce, also known as Porta Manfredi and Degli Spagnoli.
The Gate of the Jews is the one that leads to the medieval Jewish quarter of Oria, where a flourishing Jewish community had settled. At the center of the vault of this gate there is the heraldic shield with, on both sides, two coats of arms depicting the emblems of the city of Oria. On top of it there is the statue of the Immaculate Conception. Porta Lecce is also known as Porta Degli Spagnoli because from here the Spaniards entered after a long siege of the city. In the upper part of this gate there is a coat of arms of Oria.