A Baroque Masterpiece

Salento’s main city is bursting with piazzas and palazzi built using creamy limestone in barocco leccese style.

The Basilica di Santa Croce (Via Umberto I, 1) has one of the finest and most intricate Baroque facades in Italy, taking over 200 years to complete, its detail exquisite.

Remnants of Lecce’s Roman history are still on display. A theatre and an amphitheatre are testament to its importance as a flourishing Roman city. But the city existed long before that as a Messapian centre.

The old town, a Baroque maze within walls built by order of Emperor Charles V in the 16th century to protect the city from invading Turks, is packed full of good restaurants, busy bars and some of our favourite boutiques (there is no concept of "high street" here). Lecce is open for business all year round.

Lecce is a good base from which to explore Salento. It takes just over an hour to drive to Santa Maria di Leuca at the very tip of the heel of Italy’s boot.

A brief history

With roots that can be traced back to the Messapians, the town was conquered by the Romans in the 3rd century BC. Five centuries later under the Emperor Hadrian the town was fortified. Hadrian also oversaw the construction of a long, straight Roman road linking the town to the Hadrian Port on the coast (at modern day San Cataldo, some 10km to the east).

The town's stature was assured with the construction of a 25,000-seater amphitheatre and a theatre.

With the fall of Rome, Lecce eventually came under the control of Byzantium in 549 and it remained thus until the arrival of the Normans in the 11th century. It prospered greatly as part of the Kingdom of Sicily and from 1053 to 1463 it was one of the most important towns in southern Italy.

The early 17th century saw a new invasion, but this time of a cultural variety: the Baroque! Over the course of a hundred or so years, the town changed face almost completely. Existing churches and buildings were given makeovers and many new ones were built by ambitious young architects whose fantasy new no bounds. Baroque Lecce was born in the early 17th century over the next two hundred years transformed into what can still be seen by visitors ambling around the centro storico.

What to see

Entering the old town from the Porta Rudiae will lead you along via Giuseppe Libertini. Where this leads onto Corso Vittorio Emanuele II is the narrow entrance to the Piazza del Duomo. Here you come face to face with 17th and early 18th century Baroque. The five-storey (72 meter) campanile, the double façade cathedral, bishop’s palace and seminary.

The Duomo bell tower campanile (the tallest structure in Lecce) served a dual purpose. Used as a watch tower, its bell a sentinel to raise the alarm on sighting suspicious vessels on either sea. Even as late as 1803 slave-raiders abducted 164 people from the province.

Public access to Lecce’s Duomo bell tower is once again available. Since 2023 the UP! lift whisks visitors to a height of 43-metres up the bell tower to reveal a breathtaking panorama.

Tickets

Full price 12,00€
Reduced price (6-17 years; Residents in the diocese of Lecce) 9,00€
Family 2 adults+children 29,00€

Opening hours

Everyday from 10 am to 9 pm (October/March until 6pm), entrance every 20 min.

For tickets and more information on UP! Campanile del Duomo duomo bell tower panoramic lift the check out the Chiese Lecce website.

Continue along Via Vittorio Emanuele II for the Sant’Oronzo Column, a Roman column that was topped with a bronze statue of the city’s patron saint (the same patron saint as Ostuni, although Saint Orontius of Lecce, the first bishop of Lecce, was born in Rudiae, Lecce), and the sunken Roman amphitheater. The statue has been removed and currently can be seen in the municipality building on via Francesco Rubichi.

An exciting project is currently underway to restore and give access to the amphitheater.

Heading down Via Templare off the piazza will take you to the astonishing Basilica of Santa Croce. Take your time to contemplate its facade, only recently revealed after years of restoration works. The detail - made possible by the soft Lecce limestone - is astonishing. Flowers, fruits, cherubs, mythical figures, animals and sculpted figures almost seem to form an external altar.

Staying on the piazza, following the curve of the amphitheater will take you to along Via Giuseppe Verdi turning onto Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II. Here you will find a selection of chic bars and restaurants, offering shade and respite from the sun. On the western side of the piazza you will be confronted by the chiesa di Santa Chiara. Behind its cloisters lies the Roman theatre. A semicircle of stone risers, the trailing weed growing out of the stone enhancing the air of forgotten history and neglect. There is an archaeological museum dedicated to the teatro.

Amble through the narrow streets of the old town, crossing from the historic gates that allow you to enter or leave. A maze of medieval alleys and stage-set piazzas make for joyful exploring. Secret glimpses of cooler courtyards, lush palm trees and shaded spiral stairways add to the sense of drama.

Whether you take an afternoon, with time for an aperitivo and dinner, or spread over a leisurely couple of days, Lecce is spoiled by the excellence of its coffee. Be sure to stop off for a typical Salento breakfast of pasticciotto - a lemon custard pastry - and a caffè leccese: shot of espresso served over ice with almond syrup misleadingly described as “milk”. For those who savour the salty, try a rustico. A light, flaky pastry pie, best enjoyed for breakfast, warm with a melting mozzarella béchamel and tomato filling.

Where to eat

The food in Lecce typifies la cucina povera. Traditionally “peasant food”, it now symbolises simple but inventive dishes using seasonal, locally produced and fresh - always fresh - ingredients.

The Leccese relish their tasty street food, especially over un aperitivo. They especially adore long drawn out feasts outside in the shade on hot summer weekends, when lunch often slips seamlessly into dinner.

How else would Saint Oronzo, the patron saint who saved the city from the plague, be honoured if not by a dish in his name; melanzanata di Sant’ Oronzo - an aubergine (eggplant) bake with veal meatballs, hard-boiled eggs and ham alternately layered between fried aubergine, tomato sauce and mozzarella and baked au gratin.

00 Doppiozero | Via Guglielmo Paladini, 2 | +39 (0)832 521052 | not just Italian cuisine | €€

L'Angolino di Via Matteotti | Via Giacomo Matteotti, 31 | +39 (0)832 159 5957 | for the best puccia in town - street food at its finest (and cheapest)| €

Tabisca | Via Dietro Ospedale dei Pellegrini, 29 (in an alley near Piazzatta Santa Chiara) | +39 380 634 4345 | cold cuts and pies - though not in the AngloAmerican sense - and meat, much meat | don’t miss the caponata di melanzane - chopped fried aubergine/eggplant and other vegetables, seasoned with olive oil, tomato sauce, celery, olives, and capers, in an agrodolce sauce | Tabisca | €€-€€€

Le Zie Trattoria Casereccia | Via Colonnello Archimede Costadura, 19 |+39 083 224 5178 | traditional home cooking | €-€€

Where to go

Lecce is perfectly placed for journeying into Salento. Puglia is so much more than the much visited and well trodden Itria Valley...

The coast is spectacular, especially south of Otranto, from Santa Cesare Terme all the way to the tip of the heel. Castro, Marina Serra, Tricase and Santa Maria di Leuca. Discover how to fit these into a road trip to suit your itinerary.

There are also many remarkable beaches within easy reach. San Cataldo, Grotta della Poesia, Le Due Sorelle. Journeying over to Gallipoli and the Ionian will take you to Baia Verde and beyond.