Suggested tours
Lecce - The city is known for its important Baroque monuments.
The most important is the Church of the Holy Cross (Chiesa di Santa Croce). It was begun in 1353, but work was halted until 1549, to be completed only in 1695. The church has a richly decorated façade with animals, grotesque figures and vegetables, and a large rose window. Next to the church is the Government Palace, a former convent.
The Duomo (cathedral) is also one of the most significant in Italy. It was originally built in 1144, and rebuilt in 1230. It was totally restored in the years 1659-70 by Giuseppe Zimbalo, who also built the 70 m-high bell tower. The latter has five floors and an octagonal loggia.
The church of San Niccolò and Cataldo is an example of Italo-Norman architecture. It was founded by Tancred of Sicily in 1180. In 1716 the façade was rebuilt, with the addition of numerous statues, but maintaining the fine original portal. The interior has a nave and two aisles, with ogival arcades and a dome in the centre of the nave. The frescoes on the walls are from the 15th-17th centuries.
The Roman Amphitheatre, built in the 2nd century and situated near Sant'Oronzo Square, was able to seat more than 25,000 people. It is now half-buried because other monuments were built above it over the centuries.
The column holding the statue of Saint Oronzo (Lecce's patron) was given to Lecce by the city of Brindisi, because Saint Oronzo was reputed to have cured the plague in Brindisi. The column was one of a pair that marked the end of the Appian Way, the main road between Rome and southern Italy.
The Sedile was built in 1592 and was used by the local council until 1852.
The Castle of Charles V was built in 1539-49 by Gian Giacomo dell'Acaja. It has a trapezoidal plan with angular bastions. It is attached to the Politeama Greco Opera House, inaugurated on November 15, 1884.
Gallipoli - The old part of the town is something different from the rest. It is a circular island which you can visit walking along the ramparts.
In the past the walls were 2 metres high, now they are much lower and from there your gaze can sweep over the blue sea as far as the horizon. Among little alleys and tourtuous streets lots of baroque façades, wonderful buildings and houses will appear before you.
Start your walk in an anticlockwise direction from the road that dominates the new trading centre and you will find the “Church of San Francesco da Paola”, with its sober façade and a little niche with the statue of the Saint inside. The “Church of Santa Maria della Purità” is the oldest church, dating back to the second half of the 17th century; in the sacristy there are the tombs of the “Dead Christ” and of “Our Lady of Sorrows”. On Easter Saturday, before the sun rises, people bring these two statues on a procession, one of the most suggestive religious rituals of Salento. All the paintings inside belong to the 18th century Neapolitan school. Even the floor made of majolica and the benches are beautiful works of art.
Walking ahead, along the ramparts, there are the “Church of San Francesco” (full of several beautiful paintings), the “Church of the Immacolata”, the “Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli”, the “Church of Rosario”, each with its own style.
In the highest place of the old town there is the “Cathedral of Sant’Agata”, one of the best examples of Baroque in Salento (after the Church of the Holy Cross in Lecce). The façade was built by Giuseppe Zimbalo, the same artist who built the Bell Tower in Lecce. What is peculiar here is the use of ”carparo”, which is less soft and friable than the “pietra leccese”, which gives its dark pink colour. The church was built in the years between 1629 and 1696 and on the façade it shows the two patron saints of Gallipoli: St Sebastiano and St. Fausto. Inside, on the walls and on the ceiling, there are paintings of the 17th and 18th centuries. On the main street there are “BalsamoPalace” (now the seat of the Town Hall) and “Pirelli Palace”, with a nice Baroque loggia, facing the Cathedral. Next to it, an ancient portal of the 16th century is today a chemist’s, which still keeps its original 19th century furniture and decorations. It is really worthy to visit.
A little further stands a building which once was the “Church of St. Angelo”, but now there is the town library containing more than ten thousand volumes, among which some books published in 1500, Latin incunabula and manuscripts.
Otranto - You can start your visit of Otranto from the “Lungomare degli Eroi” (“Heroes Promenade”) which will lead you to the old town. You enter through Porta Alfonsina built after Otranto was rescued from the Turks’ attacks thanks to Alfonso of Aragona’s fortification plan.
The historical centre is a series of narrow streets following one another like tortuous alleys, full of little coloured shops which sell a rich variety of objects: whistles, pots, jewels, clothes, laces, typical food and whatever else.
The Cathedral is in a little square; it dominates the sight with its Renaissance rose window in Gothic-Arab style. It was built about from 1080 to 1088 and was dedicated to the “Virgin Assunta”.
In the “Chapel of the Martyrs”, in the right nave, in seven reliquiaries there are the bones of the 800 Martyrs, people who were murdered on the 14th August 1480 by the Turks because they had not abjured their Christian faith
Once out of the Cathedral you take a little street that leads you to the Castle and the Ramparts. In summer lots of tourists come here and buy souvenirs or take photos. From the Ramparts you overlook the sea and the port that, especially in summe, is full of lights and people who sing and talk till late at night.
Before arriving to the Castle, in a little square, there is the byzantine “Church of St. Peter”, one of the few Byzantine examples in good condition in Italy. In fact here you can still admire original paintings.
The Castle was restored during the 1980’s; it was built for the Aragonese king between 1485 and 1489. It has a pentagonal shape with three cylindrical towers on the corners. In the moat are still visible some of the granite balls shot by the Turks during their attack in 1480.
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