The rugged village of Macurano is considered the symbol of Oil Culture for the presence of two oil mills still used: Trappeto Sauli and Trappeto Santa Lucia. Macurano was also a region affected by the important settlement of Basilian monks who settled to hide and seek refuge, after their landing on the Salentine peninsula which is less than 4 km away. The monks came from the Near East from which fled after the iconoclast struggle. Found refuge at Macurano, were dedicated to agriculture, guaranteed asset by the fertility of the land rich of sewage coming from the hill and that were collected in tanks through a system of pipes, in part still visible. The area of the rock village was exploited subsequently and in the sixteenth century was built the complex masserizio, called Macurano, consisting in the Masseria Santa Lucia and in the chapel of Santo Stefano. The masserizio complex is dominated by the original nucleus, i.e. from the sixteenth-century tower crowned by corbels supporting the projecting parapet of the top terrace and machicolation in correspondence of the windows and doors of access. The other rooms were subsequently added and already at the end of the XVII century the complex masserizio consisted of the structure visible today.
