GROTTAPESCOLUSE VILLAGE

Lying on a plain at the foot of the Salento plateau is Lecce - known as the "Florence of the South" - one of the most interesting cities in the region for its typically seventeenth-century architectural features. Of very ancient origins, the city experienced two particularly flourishing moments: that of the Roman era and that of the Kingdom of Naples. In this period there was a great development in the construction of buildings, monuments and noble palaces characterized by a sumptuous and rich ornamental and architectural scenography that deserved the definition of "Baroque Lecce". The imaginative and meticulous work of sculpture was facilitated by the use of local stone, ductile and easy to inlay. The visit of Lecce can start from Piazza Duomo, once used as a fortified citadel and today considered the most elegant "living room" in the city. The grandeur of the Cathedral, the work of Zimbalo, Cino and Penna, the high five-story bell tower, the Bishop's Palace and the Palazzo del Seminario mark the perimeter of the square, one of the monumental works that best represents the magnificence of the Lecce style.