Papier-mâché
Cartapesta
Statues of saints made of paper, straw and glue, a craft Lecce has practised for four centuries.
Photo: Fabrizio Garrisi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Lecce’s cartapesta workshops make statues of saints, Madonnas and nativity figures out of paper and rags on a frame of straw and wire, finished with plaster and paint, and sometimes fired with hot irons to set the folds of their robes. Light and cheap, they could stand in churches that could not afford marble or wood.
The craft is still alive, with workshops in the old town and a museum in the castle. In the game a thief runs off with a papier-mâché Saint Oronzo, and you have to catch him. Ride through Lecce in 3D ›
More in Lecce
Basilica di Santa CroceThe high point of Lecce Baroque, built between 1549 and 1695. Its façade is smothered in lions, plants, mythical beasts and saints, all carved in the soft, honey-coloured local limestone. Next door stands the Palazzo dei Celestini, now the provincial government’s seat.
Piazza del DuomoAn enclosed square that only reveals itself once you step inside. The cathedral was rebuilt in 1659 by Giuseppe Zimbalo, and its campanile is 70 m tall. The Bishop’s Palace and the Seminary stand around the square too, all in the same Baroque stone.
Piazza Sant’OronzoThe heart of Lecce. The 2nd-century Roman amphitheatre lies half sunk beneath the square and once held around 25,000 spectators. On a column that came from Brindisi stands Saint Oronzo, the city’s patron. Close by is the Sedile, the old town hall from 1592.
Charles V CastleA castle with a square plan and broad bastions, rebuilt in the 1530s on the orders of Emperor Charles V to defend the city against the Turks. It has also been a prison and a barracks. Today it hosts exhibitions, and the papier-mâché museum.
Porta NapoliA triumphal arch from 1548, built for Charles V, and the grandest of the city’s three gates. It faces the road to Naples, hence the name. On the square in front stands an obelisk from 1822, in honour of King Ferdinand I.
Roman TheatreA small Roman theatre from the time of Emperor Augustus, only rediscovered in the 1930s among the houses. It held about 5,000 spectators. You can still see its semicircular tiers and floor mosaics.
Porta RudiaeThe city’s western gate, rebuilt in 1703 in Baroque style. It is named after Rudiae, the ancient town of the poet Ennius just outside Lecce. Above the gateway sits Saint Oronzo, flanked by Saint Domenico and Saint Irene.
Porta San BiagioThe southern city gate, built in 1774 and dedicated to Saint Blaise. It leads into the old town from the road to Otranto and the Adriatic coast, and is the last of the three gates still standing.
Villa ComunaleThe Giuseppe Garibaldi city park, just outside the old walls. A calm spot among palms and trees, close to the castle and the centre. A good place to hide from the southern sun for a while.
Chiesa di Santa ChiaraA small Baroque church from 1687, with an octagonal plan. Inside, the richly decorated dome and the papier-mâché ceiling stun: a craft Lecce is known for. It stands right by the Roman theatre.
Pietra lecceseThe soft, honey-coloured limestone that the whole old town is built and carved from.
PasticciottoA small oval pastry of shortcrust filled with warm custard, eaten for breakfast in every bar of the Salento.
PizzicaThe fast, whirling folk dance of the Salento, played on tambourines through the summer nights.
Caffè lecceseAn espresso poured over ice and sweet almond milk: Lecce’s answer to the summer heat.