Cavallino is situated at 5 and a half kilometres from Lecce, in a large plain between cultivations of olive and almond trees, marked by charming dry stone brick walls and at short distance from the Adriatic Sea.

The traces from the local archaeological excavations evidence that near to the actual city, there was a Messapic settlement (Messapi: an ancient Italic population of the area). Most of the exhibits are preserved in Lecce and are datable between the VIII and the VI centuries b.C. These traces evidence that the settlement was destroyed completely during the civil wars with the nearby city of Taranto and was founded again in a different nearby location in the country.

The town's history is based on the same one of all the other centers of the Salento, subject to the raids and dominion of the Goths, the Longobardi, the Byzantines, the Normans, the Anjous and the Aragons.

Important monument of the city is the Palazzo Marchesale Castromediano-Limburg, built in XV century with military purposes, it became the residence of the local Landlord.

Another important site is the Convent dei Padri Domenicani of the XVII century built on demand of the Marquis Francesco Castromediano.

Not to miss, at the back of the Masseria du Ussano, an antique "menhir". The studious have still not a final conclusion on the origins and the use of the monoliths present in Apulia.