Explorations of a Baroque city built in stone.
Located in the heel of Italy’s booth, Lecce was one of the most important cities in Southern Italy in the 17th century, leading to its grand Baroque architecture. The city is also known for its soft limestone which helped created these amazing buildings.
Starting off strong with the Castle of Charles V.
Charles V renovated a medieval castle in the 16th century. Today it lies in the middle of the city.
A shadow guards the castle.
Now for the Baroque, Santa Maria della Grazia.
A pretty little 16th century church.
Right in front of the church is the 2nd century Ancient Roman amphitheater.
The local soft limestone made carving elaborate doorways possible. However, soft limestone doesn’t survive forever.
The gorgeous Cathedral of Lecce and its 72 meter (236 ft) tall bell tower.
The Piazza del Duomo is surrounded by gorgeous Baroque buildings. This one, Palazzo Arcivescovile, is next to the cathedral and holds an archive.
The Palazzo del Seminario, home to a Seminary and the Cathedral museum.
Back to the cathedral and that remarkable main doorway. Absolutely stunning.
A small but lovely church. I love that ceiling.
There are even ridiculously elaborate altars in this church as well.
Shiny.
A whole lot going on here.
A fancy palazzo on the right.
Next Baroque church, Santa Chiara.
It’s full of ridicously elaborate altars as well.
Absolutely ridiculous.
Chiesa del Carmine.
The old city is full of narrow streets.
Porta Rudiae, rebuilt in the 18th century. Not just the churches are elaborate.
I love this staircase.
Sant’Anna, also full of ridiculous altars.
Santa Teresa looks like it wasn’t finished.
The church is a bit more subdued on decoration, except for those altars.
That’s quite a balcony.
I have no idea what is going on here.
I love courtyard gardens.
Palazzo Guarini has some interesting windows.
Here’s the fairly plain (for Lecce) Porta Napoli.
I explored a bit of the Cimitero Monumentale di Lecce. It’s also ridiculous.
Moving on to a local park where one can find a pagghiara, a dry stone building often found in the countryside in Salento (the heel of the boot). Usually found on farms, they had a multitude of uses such as crop storage, temporary shelter, shed, etc.
The same park has the Torre di Belloluogo, a defense outpost north of the old city.
A bit of the old city walls still stand.
Lecce’s narrow streets were fun to explore.
Fancy window.
Basilica di Santa Croce, a 17th century Baroque wonder.
Very elaborate inside as well.
I adore all this detail.
Of Course, Santa Croce has its own ridiculous altars.
One last church, San Matteo. I love the facade. Very unique.
No surprise here, it’s full of ridiculous altars.
That main altar is just gorgeous.
Last but not least, the Ancient Roman theater.
Lecce was as fantastic as I thought it would be. All the Baroque buildings in the city remind me of several Sicilian cities rebuilt about the same time. I visited more than what I showed here. I spent a day and a half in Lecce, but I could have stayed longer to explore some of the other towns in the area. I’ll definitely will go back.
Check out my next update where I explore the coastal city of Bari!
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Start at the beginning of this adventure.
