Piazza Maria Immacolata, better known as 'i Portici', houses an elegant neoclassical arcade designed in 1854 by the architect Davide da Conversano.
The semicircular structure is a succession of thirteen arches, a metaphorical embrace that invites the community and travellers into an experience of art and gastronomy, in which the 'capocollo' (cured neck of pork) and the 'bombette' (a type of meat) of Martina Franca stand out.
In the past it was a place engaged in trade, particularly lamp oil, for export markets. Piazza Maria Immacolata was home to shops selling cereals, cheeses, cold meats and there was even a vendor of snow, stored in snow sheds during the coldest times of the year.