| Castro | |
| Official Name: | Comune di Castro |
| Pushpin Label Position: | left |
| Coordinates: | 40.0167°N 42°W |
| Region: | Apulia |
| Province: | (LE) |
| Frazioni: | Castro Marina |
| Mayor: | Luigi Fersini |
| Area Total Km2: | 4.56 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 2395 |
| Population As Of: | 30 June 2017 |
| Population Demonym: | Castrensi or Castrioti |
| Elevation M: | 100 |
| Saint: | Maria SS. Annunziata (principal) and Santa Dorotea |
| Day: | 25 April and 6 February |
| Postal Code: | 73030 |
| Area Code: | 0836 |
Castro (Salentino: Sicilian: Casciu) is a town and comune in the Italian province of Lecce in the Apulia region of south-eastern Italy.
Castro derives its name from Castrum Minervae (Latin for "Athena's castle"), which was an ancient town of the Sallentini, about 15km (09miles) south of Hydruntum. Its ancient temple of Minerva was said to have been founded by Idomeneus, who formed the tribe of the Sallentini from a mixture of Cretans, Illyrians and Italian Locrians (Central Greek tribe).[2]
It is also said to have been the place where Aeneas first landed in Italy, the port of which he named Portus Veneris ("Port of Venus"). The temple had lost some of its importance in Strabo's day.[2]