Lecce
Lecce, nicknamed the “Florence of the South”, dazzles its visitors with an explosion of Baroque style. Lecce is an ancient city, which experienced two distinct periods of prosperity in its history: the Roman era and that of the rule of the Kingdom of Naples. Under both eras, there was an increase in construction of buildings, monuments and mansions. These new structures were rich in magnificent ornamentation and their typical architecture is best known as “Lecce’s Baroque”. The meticulous sculpting work was facilitated by the use of local stone, flexible and easy to inlay. The downtown of Lecce is a maze of narrow streets, where you can delve into the history of this small gem in the heel of Italy’s boot. Lecce has a lot on its plate for visitors; a nice walk in the downtown will lead you to the discovery of the most beautiful and attractive monuments. Besides the architecture,. it is a lovely city bustling with nice restaurants and cafés; and the icing on the cake is the hospitality of the locals, who will make you feel at home.
Piazza Sant'Oronzo
During the Roman era, some 20,000 spectators would fill the stone seats of the arcaded amphitheatre in what is now Piazza Sant’Oronzo. Today the locals tend to congregate on the lively outdoor terrace of Caffè Alvino on the Piazza Sant’Oronzo, which sits alongside the partly excavated ruins and other landmarks from Lecce’s past. Admire the majestic stone Sedile — a former town hall and armory built in the late 16th century — and the soaring stone pillar topped by a statue of the city’s patron saint, St. Oronzo, from the Baroque period. Two Roman columns once marked the end of the Appian Way in Brindisi. When one of them crumbled in 1582 some of the pieces were rescued and subsequently donated to Lecce (the base and capital remain in Brindisi). The old column was rebuilt in 1666 with a statue of Lecce's patron saint placed on top. Sant'Oronzo is venerated for supposedly saving the city of Brindisi from a 1656 plague.
The Amphitheatre
Below the ground level of the piazza is this restored 2nd-century-AD amphitheatre, discovered in 1901 by construction workers. It was excavated in the 1930s to reveal a perfect horseshoe with seating for 15,000. It was closed and a little overgrown at last visit.
Go for Baroque
No street in Lecce oozes Baroque extravagance like Via Libertini. Enter the southwestern gate to the city’s historic core, the 18th-century Porta Rudiae, and pop into the Basilica di San Giovanni Battista. Completed in 1728, the church is a soaring, light-flooded expanse ringed by high windows and packed with stunningly detailed carvings of cherubs, wreaths and more. The richly decorated pulpit is flanked by twisting spiral columns and scenes of the Apocalypse. Farther up Via Libertini on the same side, the 17th-century Chiesa di Santa Teresa has a restrained neo-Classical facade and an interior containing macabre artworks, from an emaciated statue of Jesus writhing in a glass-box coffin to a painting of Salome with the head of St. John. The stunning finale appears in Piazza del Duomo. Alongside a tall, tapering bell tower, the city’s 17th-century cathedral is another edifice that houses stained-glass windows, a coffered wood-and-gilt ceiling and a Greek marble altar decorated with lapis lazuli.
Piazza del Duomo
Piazza del Duomo is a baroque feast, the city's focal point and a sudden open space amid the surrounding enclosed lanes. During times of invasion the inhabitants of Lecce would barricade themselves in the square, which has conveniently narrow entrances. The 12th-century cathedral is one of Giuseppe Zimbalo's finest works; he was also responsible for the 68m-high bell tower. The cathedral is unusual in that it has two facades, one on the western end and the other, more ornate, facing the piazza. It's framed by the 15th-century Palazzo Vescovile and the 18th-century Seminario, designed by Giuseppe Cino. The latter hosts a library of old books and the Museo Diocesano di Arte Sacra , home to religious art.
Santa Croce
With the frenzied crowdedness of a Hieronymus Bosch painting and the intensity of a feverish dream, the colonnaded, multitiered and ornately sculptured exterior of Basilica di Santa Croce on Via Umberto, just north of Piazza Sant’Oronzo, bursts exuberantly with hundreds of finely detailed forms. Pacing lions, howling dragons, cross-bearing angels, undersea creatures, turbaned Turks, urns, scrolls, shells, birds, horses, heralds, shells and flowers fill the facade of Lecce’s iconic church, completed in 1695 after work by three generations of architects and artisans.
Castello Carlo V
This 16th-century castle was built around a 12th-century Norman tower to the orders of Spain's Charles V and consists of two concentric trapezoidal structures. It's been used as a prison, a court and military headquarters. Recent excavations mean that you can now wander underground through the vast corridors and see how the castle walls expanded enormously, and then visit the baronial spaces upstairs along with the on-site papier-mâché museum .
Porta Napoli
The main city gate, Porta Napoli, was erected in 1548 in anticipation of a state visit from Charles V. It's a typically militaristic effort by General Acaja (builder of the castle), who modelled it on a Roman triumphal arch and gave it a pointy pediment carved with toy weapons and an enormous Spanish coat of arms. Subtle it is not.
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