Building sights in Lecce
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Cathedral
Piazza del Duomo is a baroque feast, the city’s focal point and a sudden open space amid the surrounding enclosed lanes. During times of invasion the inhabitants of Lecce would barricade themselves in the square, with its conveniently narrow entrances. The 12th-century cathedral is one of Giuseppe Zimbalo’s finest works – he was also responsible for the towering, 68m‑high bell tower. The cathedral is unusual in that it has two facades, one on the western end and the other, more ornate, facing the piazza. It’s framed by the 15th-century Palazzo Vescovile (Episcopal Palace) and the 18th-century Seminario, designed by Giuseppe Cino.
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Basilica di Santa Croce
It seems that hallucinating stonemasons have been at work on the Basilica di Santa Croce. Sheep, dodos, cherubs and beasties writhe across the facade, a swirling magnificent allegorical feast. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries a team of artists – under Giuseppe Zimbalo – laboured to work the building up to this pitch.
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