LE MAPPE CATASTALI STORICHE COME STRUMENTO DI ANALISI QUANTITATIVA E QUALITATIVA PER L’INDIVIDUAZIONE DELLA “TERRA” COME FORMA URBANA NELLE CITTÀ STORICHE DEL SALENTO MERIDIONALE

The term “Terra”, in the documents of the XVII and XVIII century, means the fiefdoms, the territories, the inhabited centres. In historical-urban planning studies, the term also assumes a chronological value and intends to indicate the oldest area of a town. In some documents there is also a toponymic indication, “Terra di”. In “Apprezzi dei feudi e dei territori”: the Terra of Racale. In the centers of the Terra d’Otranto there are many examples of this urban form, with special features: quadrangular shape, distribution of linear and regular spaces, therefore apparently planned.