Visit Lecce: Baroque streets and Salento light
Visit Lecce for its compact, sunlit Baroque centre where carved pietra leccese and ornate facades turn ordinary streets into discoveries. Start at Basilica di Santa Croce and Piazza Sant’Oronzo, then drop into the Roman amphitheatre and narrow lanes where cartapesta workshops shape traditional papier‑mâché figures. Taste your way through pasticciotto for breakfast, rustico for a mid‑day snack and fresh seafood paired with Negroamaro wine. The city is a practical base for Salento: beaches at Torre dell’Orso and Porto Cesareo are 30–50 minutes away by car, Otranto and Gallipoli make easy day trips. Visit in spring or early autumn, walk the centro storico, join a short Baroque tour and book an artisan or cooking workshop to turn sightseeing into skill.
Look for the date carved beside Santa Croce’s rose window: 1646. Work on the basilica began in 1549 and unfolded for nearly a century.
Historic core & landmarks
Start here for Lecce’s architectural essentials: visit Castello Carlo V di Lecce to feel the city’s fortified past, then slip into the serene stonework of Ex Chiesa di San Marco and the intimate baroque calm of Church of Saint Clare . Walk through Porta San Biagio to reach the honey‑coloured lanes of the Centro Storico di Lecce . Finish in the lively hub of Piazza Sant’Oronzo , where Roman ruins and a working clock tower set the pace for the rest of your day. This loop gives a clear, walkable sense of Lecce’s layered history and the best places to pause, photograph and absorb local detail.
In Piazza Sant’Oronzo, only about one‑third of the Roman Amphitheatre is visible today; uncovered and excavated in the early 1900s (1900–1940), it could seat roughly 12,000–14,000 spectators.
Eat, shop and learn
Plan meal‑and‑market days around real local rhythms: pick essentials and Asian specialties at Alimentari Foodmarket before joining a hands‑on class to make pasta and Puglian dishes. Choose between the lively, sociable shift of Cooking Class Lecce Go or the long‑running, technique‑focused sessions at Cooking Experience Cooking Classes . If you want a friendly family kitchen vibe, book Cook in Puglia . Finish with dinner at Signuria Restaurant & Caffè for a contemporary take on regional flavours. This mix gives practical places to eat, shop and take lasting skills home.
Lecce’s papier‑mâché craft has its own museum inside Castello Carlo V: the Museo della Cartapesta opened in December 2009 and traces a tradition that rose in the 1700s and peaked in the 1800s.
Museums and galleries
If you want Lecce’s quieter, interior stories, head underground and into contemporary rooms. Museo Faggiano reveals a layered archaeological narrative discovered during a family renovation; nearby galleries such as Art&Co Gallerie Lecce present modern work with readable curation and friendly staff. For classical sculpture and a striking medieval cistern, don’t miss SHIP IN ARTE . Each stop rewards close looking: small exhibitions, personal guides and unexpected architectural details that explain how Lecce’s present grew from its past.
Order a caffè leccese the local way—hot espresso over ice with almond milk (latte di mandorla)—a summertime staple across Salento.