Known for its baroque architecture and the music festival of the Itria Valley, it stands on the southern reaches of the Murge, on the border of the provinces of Taranto and Brindisi and with the metropolitan city of Bari, it is the most populous municipality in the province of Taranto with the its of 48600 inhabitants. It is located at an altitude of 431 m a.s.l.
The term Martina derives from the devotion of the inhabitants already from the year 1000 to San Martino di Tours, in fact the primitive settlement of the city was born on a mountain called precisely San Martino, while the adjective Franca was added by Filippo I D’Angiò in 1310 when he recognized the city different privileges, ie deductibles and perpetual state property. Then in 1310 the city was called Franca Martina, then over the centuries, losing the perpetual state property, the adjective Franca disappeared. Only after the unification of Italy, in 1861, the city was renamed Martina Franca.