Instant Cities: Lecce

Lecce › Places and landmarks

Basilica di Santa Croce

The 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.

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The Basilica di Santa Croce is the showpiece of the style named after the city, Lecce Baroque. It took almost 150 years to build, from 1549 to 1695, and several architects, among them Gabriele Riccardi and, for the upper façade, Giuseppe Zimbalo and Cesare Penna.

Its front is a riot of carving in the soft local stone: a balcony held up by monsters and figures said to be defeated Turks, a great rose window ringed with fruit and leaves, cherubs, lions and saints. Next door the long front of the Palazzo dei Celestini, once a monastery, now houses the province’s government.

More in Lecce

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. Papier-mâchéStatues of saints made of paper, straw and glue, a craft Lecce has practised for four centuries. 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.