11 September 2023 Lecce
Lecce, located 11 miles from the Adriatic Sea and 23 miles
from the Ionian Sea on the eastern-most peninsula (Salento Peninsula) of
Italy’s boot, is one of the most beautiful and well-preserved towns in Puglia,
and is considered the masterpiece of baroque architecture in Italy. While its
architecture includes a blend of Greek, Byzantine and other European features,
it is the 17th century baroque masterpieces that earned it the name
“Florence of the South.” The local style
of this architecture is called “Barocco Leccese” (Lecce Baroque). The buildings are constructed of a light
yellow, soft, and compact limestone known as “pietra leccese” (stone from
Lecce) and covered with ornate
carvings. The crest of the city depicts
a she wolf, oak tree, and a crown. As
the cultural center of Puglia, the town has many monuments, churches, palaces,
and museums. The baroque influence is
everywhere – ornate doorways, facades decorated with cherubs, gargoyles,
gremlins, leaves, birds, flowers, vegetables (especially asparagus) and
monsters, and the elaborate churches and monuments It also has a university with about 18,000
students.
This morning a local guide, Angelo, joined us for a walking
tour around the old part of the city. We
started in Piazza Sant’Oronzo, called the heart of the historic city, as it reflects
the many years of history through its different styles of architecture. It was named for Sant’Oronzo, the protector
of the city, whose inhabitants in 1656 built a statue in his honor as they felt
he had protected them during the plague epidemic that struck the Kingdom of
Naples, but spared the city of Lecce.
The statue, which shows the saint blessing the city, used to stand on
top of a roman column that is mounted on a Corinthian capital (circular
base). However, it was removed for renovation and
today is located in Lecce’s museum. The
column came from Brindisi (another town in Puglia) and is one of two that
marked the end of the Ancient Appia road to Rome.
The top feature of this square is the Roman Amphitheater,
which was built during the Roman rule of Hadrian (2nd century
BCE). Over time stores were built over
the amphitheater and it wasn’t discovered until excavations in 1901 unearthed
it. Prior to this time, the square, then
called the “Merchants’ Square” was the commercial center of the town with its
many shops around the edge of the square.
Those shops were torn down during the amphitheater excavations. It took until 1940 for the excavation to be
completed, but 2/3 of the structure t still remains hidden underground. The horseshoe shaped amphitheater originally
could seat 15,000 people. Along the
walls of the amphitheater are ancient pictures showing the types of
performances that were held here – gladiators fighting with bulls, lions,
bears, or other humans. Today is still
used for outdoor events and shows. At
the present time the city has no funds to finish the excavation, and according
to Angela, no real desire to disrupt the businesses and homes that are built
above the rest of the Amphitheater.
The Palazzo Sedile, (Seat Palace) built during the late
1500s and at the time was the seat of government for the town. The rear wings of the building were destroyed
during the excavation of the amphitheater so all that remains is the
quadrangular loggia (a covered space much like a porch) with its ogival arches
(a large pointed arch topped by three smaller curved arches).
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| The Roman Amphitheater |
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| Column of Sant'Oronzo |
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| The Palazzo Sedile |
We then walked a short distance to the ruins of a Roman
theater passing by another Baroque church, the Church of St. Chiara. The Roman Theater is believed to have been
built sometime between the 1st and 2nd century AD. Unlike the Amphitheater, which held games,
competitions and gladiator events, this theater was used for plays. It was discovered in 1929 when Lecce was
renovating another building that had been constructed over the theater. It was thought to have held 5,000 people, but
only part of it has been excavated as the rest remains buried under the
buildings in the area.
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| Church of St. Chiara |
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| Roman Theater |
As we walked through the streets and little alleyways,
Angela pointed out the beautiful courtyards and decorations on many of the
balconies of the old homes in the area.
Today, most of these homes have been converted into hotels and B&Bs
as tourism has become the #1 industry in Lecce.
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| Balcony with Statues of People Who Lived There |
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| Balcony with Flower Decorations |
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| Beautiful Courtyard (today is a parking lot) |
We then walked to the Piazza Duomo. The Square is not only one of the most
beautiful in Italy, it is also Lecce’s religious center, including not only the
Duomo cathedral, but the Bishop’s Palace, the Seminary and the bell tower. Unlike other piazzas though, this one is
enclosed on three sides with the entrance through a narrow alleyway on the
north side. This was the “WOW” moment as
we looked at the Cathedral for the first time.
The crown jewel of the square is the
double-façade Duomo di Lecce (Cathedral of Santa Maria dell’Assunta). Built in 1659, it is in the shape of a Latin
cross with 13 altars. While the front
façade has a very simplistic look, the sides showcase the extravagant baroque
architecture. The North façade, facing
the Piazza Duomo, contains some magnificent stone statues and sculptures. Outside the church is the 228-foot high bell
tower. The gilded, opulent inside is
also very decorative with its gold artwork, beautiful arches and a ceiling that
is covered with beautiful historical art.
There are 12 chapels located inside the cathedral, each dedicated to a
different saint or religious figure.
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| Bell Tower |
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| Duomo's Seminary |
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| Duomo's Main Entrance (the plain o ne) |
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| Model being photographed in front of Church |
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| Inside the Duomo |
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| Ceiling of the Duomo |
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| Inside the Duomo |
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| Inside the Duomo |
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| Altar Inside the Duomo |
From the Cathedral
we walked to to a little "discovery" as Claudio called it -- a small shop where the owner has been making paper mache statues
for over 50 years. Unlike most artisans
in this field, this worker makes his own paper.
He chops up into fine pieces cotton material and then mixes it in a
large vat containing water and paste. He
then takes a farm made of fine screening and dips it into the vat, catching the
now saturated cotton pieces on the screens frame. This is then placed between 2 pieces of paper
and then a stack of them (about 50) are put in a press to remove the
water. The pages are then allowed to dry
for about a week and they are ready to be used in making his statues. The statues are incredible. He crunches the paper around the frame of a
person and then molds it into the shape he wants. The last step is to paint the statue, using
natural ingredients for the colored paint.
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| Paper Mache Workshop |
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| Vat of Water and Glue and Screen Frame |
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| Frame After Dipping in Vat |
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| Placing paper mache sheet on paper |
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| Press for Removing Water |
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| Finished Paper Mache Sheets |
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| Frame of the Statue |
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| Paper Mache that has been crunched around the frame |
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| Finished Statue |
As we walked to our
final stop, the Basilica di Santa Croce, Angela made a slight detour to show us
one of the three original gates that led into the city through the city
walls. This gate was the Porta Napoli as
its road led to Naples. Built in 1548 to
honor Charles V, who had the original city fortifications build, is also called
the Triumphal Arch and marks the entrance to the historic center of the
city. It is located near the Triumphal
Arch square. The arch is flanked by two
Corinthian columns on each side. In the
center is Charles V’s Habsburg imperial coat of arms with decorations that
depict cannons and military armor. There
is also an inscription that praises King Charles V for his role in defeating
the Turks. Translated, the inscription
reads: “ "To the Emperor Caesar
Charles V, august triumphant, in the Indies, in the Gauls and in Africa;
subjugator of rebel Christians, fear and extermination of the Turks; propagator
of the Christian religion throughout the world with works and councils; being
under the government of this province Ferrante Loffredo, who knew how to keep
the Turks and the enemies of the empire away from the shores of Salento and
Japigia; the University and the grateful Lecce people dedicated this arch to
the grandeur and majesty of Him, the year 1548 ". There were also some of the remains of the old medieval wall that once surrounded the city.
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| Porta Napolia |
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| Remains of Medieval Wall |
Just north of the square lies the Basilica di Santa Croce
(Basilica of the Holy Cross), one of the most beautiful and fascinating
examples of baroque architecture, earning it the honor of the “Emblem of Lecce
Baroque”. Construction began in 1549 and
took over 100 years to complete. The
church was built over the site of a former monastery using leccese stone that
gives its outer facade a light cream color.
(On a rather sad footnote, additional land was required to complete the
Basilica. In 1541, the Naples Reign,
which had previously given refuge to Jews displaced from Spain, ousted all the
Jews from Lecce and their land and housing material were used in the Basilica’s
construction.).
Every inch of the outside façade is decorated with strange
beasts and allegories, cherubs, fantastical monsters, plants. There are also beautiful rose windows that
dominate the front façade, but it is the large one in the center of the front
façade, surrounded by exquisite carvings, that takes your breath away.
But while
the outside is an amazing array of baroque architecture, the inside is a
reminder of its original plain Renaissance style – it is less elaborate and
more functional. That is not to say that
there is not beauty found inside the church – there certainly is. One of the first things you see are the large
white columns with a candelabra in between them. Then you look up and see the wooden ceiling
with a painting in the center. The inside
also has 17 richly decorated altars and a 16th century fresco of the
Madonna of Constantinople.
Symbolizing the triumph of
Christianity over pagan myths, the Basilica’s two orders symbolize heaven and
hell. The upper order, adorned with
flowers, animals, and angels represents heaven which defeated the lower order
or the pagan world. The lower order is
shown with mythological figures such as sirens and dragons.
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| Basilica di Santa Croce |
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| Basilica di Santa Croce |
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| Basilica di Santa Croce |
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| Inside the Church |
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| Inside the Church |
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| Inside the Church |
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| Inside the Church |
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| Ceiling of the Church |
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| Inside the Church |
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| Inside the Church |
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| Inside the Church |
We then walked to a restaurant,
called an Irish Pub, but there was nothing Irish about it. We ate outside and enjoyed a wonderful lunch
of fresh vegetables and pasta. Then it
was time to return to the hotel and become Italian for the afternoon – take a
long siesta before going out for a pizza dinner. Tomorrow will be out last day in Puglia and
we will visit 2 more amazing churches.
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| The Irish Pub Restaurant |
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| Bill tried to treat it as an Irish Pub |
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| Not quite an Irish Dinner - vegetarian appetizers |
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