Introducing Lecce
Central Lecce can make you giddy – the town is built of stone that glints gold and cream in the sunlight, a local material that starts off malleable yet soon hardens, making it perfect for building and sculpting. The churches are laden with barmy baroque architecture: asparagus column tops, decorative dodos 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 façade of Santa Croce made him think a lunatic was having a nightmare.
Advertisement
Either way, it’s a lively, graceful university town, packed with upmarket boutiques, antique shops and furniture restorers. Convenient for both the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, it’s a great base for exploring the Penisola Salentina.
Last updated: Feb 17, 2009
Tips & articles
-
Must-see Italy
13 April 2011
This article has been specially produced by Lonely Planet for Trafalgar Tours.Italy is a dazzling, mesmerising feast of a country....
Thorn Tree forum discussion
Recent posts
-
RE: Puglia - Salento Are: Where to base ourselves?
by CRISSY 05 September 2011
Salento at the end of September is really a good choice! I went in August and obviously it was packed with tourists but how wonderful!…
-
RE: 4-5 days in Puglia
by suburbian 08 June 2011
You can also fly to Brindisi if you prefer to stay in south of Puglia. I (family with pregnant mom and a 2 yrs old boy) will go 10 days…
-
RE: Lecce, Italy: Much of a Muchness (A First Impression)
by lrmca 07 May 2011
This thread is a year old, but just to add my two euros/cents (b/c we visited in spring of 2010 as well)...we too were diasppointed by…
Hotels & Hostels in Lecce
-
Aranceto
Lecce
Book now
-
Masseria Picca Picca
Lecce
Book now
-
Villa Mama Lecce
Lecce
Book now
Advertisement
