What to see in Lecce in one day is the leitmotif often heard. The Salento city needs more time to be admired in its beauty. For this reason, we created a guide to Lecce on what to see and do. However, for hurried travelers, we have prepared a short itinerary that takes us to visit Lecce in one day.
A perfect idea is a weekend or a short stay in Lecce, the delightful capital of Apulian baroque, lying on a small plateau that dominates the entire Salento.
A good starting point can be the seventeenth-century Piazza del Duomo, the baroque and religious heart of the city, designed by the Duomo, the Bishop’s Palace, and the Seminary.
The sea is not visible, but it is so close that you can feel its breath. The wind, or better, the winds, are omnipresent: the warm and humid sirocco from the south, the cold and dry tramontana from the north; depending on which blows, the inhabitants choose whether to go to the sea on the Adriatic beaches or those of the Ionian.
Aside from the wind, what strikes about Lecce is the extraordinary combination between the “blue Salento” sky and the amber hues of the Lecce stone, a ductile material (limestone formed from the remains of marine fossil organisms), with which the palaces and many churches enclosed within the ancient walls have been built.
Besides the sumptuousness, richness, and intricacy of the decorations, the solemnity of the entire complex stands out. Walking down via Libertini to Porta Rudiae, you can admire religious buildings of great value, such as the Church of Santa Teresa, the Church of Sant’Anna with the former Conservatory, or the Church of the Rosary, with a Greek cross floor plan and the original wooden ceiling coverings.
Another focal point is Piazza Sant’Oronzo, with the column on which stands the statue of the saint in the act of blessing passersby. The square is largely occupied by the Amphitheater built during the time of Emperor Augustus and brought to light only at the beginning of the 20th century.
Overlooking the Roman ruins stands the Sedile, a cubic building with high arches, built at the end of the 16th century as the mayor’s courtroom and used as the town hall until the nineteenth century. Not to be missed is the Castle of Charles V, north of the square, a solid fortress with a 14th-century central tower, built to defend the city from Turkish armies.
The Basilica of Santa Croce, the largest and most famous celebration of Lecce baroque (1549-1689), the adjacent Government Palace (former Celestine convent), the Church of Santa Chiara, the Roman Theater, and the Romanesque Church of Saints Nicholaus and Cataldo, internally decorated with frescoes so precious that photographing them is prohibited.
