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Lecce

Puglia

Italy Travel Guide

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Sculptures on the facade of the Santa Croce Basilica in Lecce.

©Gimas/Shutterstock

Overview

If Puglia were a movie, Lecce would be cast in the starring role. Bequeathed with a generous stash of baroque buildings by its 17th-century architects, the city has a completeness and homogeneity that other southern Italian metropolises lack. Indeed, so distinctive is Lecce’s architecture that it has acquired its own moniker, barocco leccese (Lecce baroque), an expressive and hugely decorative incarnation of the genre replete with gargoyles, asparagus columns and cavorting gremlins. Swooning 18th-century traveller Thomas Ashe thought it 'the most beautiful city in Italy', but the less-impressed Marchese Grimaldi said the facade of Basilica di Santa Croce made him think a lunatic was having a nightmare.

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Best Things to Do

It is in Lecce that Puglia’s historical richness shines. Here are the best things to do in a city famed for its baroque architecture and Italian charm.

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