Basilica di Santa Croce (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

for '

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

of the Holy Cross') is a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

that was completed in 1695 in

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

, Italy.

History

Walter VI, Count of Brienne Walter VI of Brienne (c. 1304 – 19 September 1356) was a French nobleman and crusader. He was the count of Brienne in France, the count of Conversano and Lecce in southern Italy and claimant to the Duchy of Athens in Frankish Greece. Lif ...

, had founded in the current church's location a monastery in the 14th century. In 1549, a new church was begun, using, among the others, houses from Jews who had been ousted from Lecce in 1510. The construction dragged on for two centuries; by 1582, the lower façade had been finished, while the dome was completed in 1590. The portals were added starting in 1606, under the direction of Francesco Antonio Zimbalo. The church was completed by his successors Cesare Penna (upper façade and the

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' w ...

) and

Giuseppe Zimbalo Giuseppe Zimbalo (1620–1710) was an Italian architect and sculptor. Known as ''Lo Zingarello'' ("Tiny Gypsy"), he was one of the most prominent artists in the so-called Baroque of Lecce, his hometown in southern Italy. Here he designed part of ...

(decoration of the upper façade).

Exterior

The church has a richly decorated façade, with six smooth columns supporting an entablature, with

animal Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Kingdom (biology), biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals Heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, are Motilit ...

s, grotesque figures and vegetables, and has a large

. The main portal has a pair of Corinthian columns and the coats of arms of

Philip III of Spain Philip III ( es, Felipe III; 14 April 1578 – 31 March 1621) was King of Spain. As Philip II, he was also King of Portugal, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia and Duke of Milan from 1598 until his death in 1621. A member of the House of Habsburg, Phi ...

Mary of Enghien Mary of Enghien, also Maria d'Enghien (1367 or 1370 – 9 May 1446), was Countess of Lecce from 1384 to 1446 and Queen of Naples as well as titular Queen of Sicily, Jerusalem, and Hungary by marriage to Ladislaus of Naples from 1406 to 1414. ...

and Walter VI of Brienne, while on the side portals are those of the

Celestines The Celestines were a Roman Catholic monastic order, a branch of the Benedictines, founded in 1244. At the foundation of the new rule, they were called Hermits of St Damiano, or Moronites (or Murronites), and did not assume the appellation of C ...

. Several atlantes would represent the Turk prisoners made by the Christian League at the

Battle of Lepanto (1571) The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Soverei ...

.Manieri Elia, ''Il barocco leccese'' The animals under the balustrade would symbolize the Christian powers which participated in the battle: the dragon was the symbol of the Boncompagni, family of

Pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...

; the griffon the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Lat ...

, Hercules the

Grand Duke of Tuscany The rulers of Tuscany varied over time, sometimes being margraves, the rulers of handfuls of border counties and sometimes the heads of the most important family of the region. Margraves of Tuscany, 812–1197 House of Boniface :These were origin ...

Interior

The interior, on the Latin cross plan, had originally a nave and four aisles, two of which were turned into side chapels in the 18th century. The church has seventeen altars: the main one has a decorated portal with the coat of arms of the Adorni family, whose tombs were inside the basilica. Notable is also that of St. Francis of Paola, a Baroque piece of art by Francesco Antonio Zimbalo. The nave has a rich wooden caisson ceiling.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Basilica Di Santa Croce (Lecce) Baroque architecture in Apulia Churches in the province of Lecce Religious buildings and structures in Lecce Roman Catholic churches completed in 1695 Santa Croce, Basilica di 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy 1695 establishments in Italy