The most spectacular façade of Lecce baroque
Lecce, the capital of the Salento, is known as the "Florence of the South" for the extraordinary richness of its baroque architecture. Between the late sixteenth and the eighteenth centuries, the city was transformed by architects and stonemasons such as Giuseppe Zimbalo, Gabriele Riccardi and Giuseppe Cino, who created a unique style, the "barocco leccese", made possible by the local stone, the pietra leccese: a soft, warm golden limestone, easy to carve when freshly quarried, which then hardens in the air, allowing incredibly detailed decorations.
The masterpiece of this style is the Basilica of Santa Croce, built between 1549 and 1695: its façade is a riot of sculpture, with columns, balconies supported by caryatids and monsters, garlands of flowers and fruit, putti, animals, symbols and a great rose window carved like lace, so rich that it has been described as the dream of a madman. Next to it stands the Palazzo dei Celestini, seat of the Prefecture. A short walk away, Piazza del Duomo is one of the most beautiful squares in Italy, enclosed on three sides by the cathedral, its 70-metre bell tower, the bishop's palace and the seminary, a sort of open-air theatre that lights up at night.
Tip: wander through the old town in the evening, when the stone glows golden; the papier-mâché workshops, another Lecce tradition, make nativity figures and statues.
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