Lecce ( ); el, label=

Griko Griko, sometimes spelled Grico, is the dialect of Italiot Greek spoken by Griko people in Salento (province of Lecce) and (also called Grecanic) in Calabria. Some Greek linguists consider it to be a Modern Greek dialect and often call it ( el, ...

, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in

southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the pe ...

. It is the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

of the

province of Lecce The Province of Lecce ( it, Provincia di Lecce; Salentino: ) is a province in the Apulia region of Italy whose capital is the city of Lecce. The province is called the "Heel of Italy". Located on the Salento peninsula, it is the second most-p ...

, the province of second-highest population in the region of

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

, as well as one of that region's most important cities. It is the main city of the Salentine Peninsula, a sub-peninsula at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over 2,000 years old. Because of the rich

Baroque architectural Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the early 17th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means t ...

monuments found in the city, Lecce is commonly nicknamed "The

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

of the South". In terms of industry, the "Lecce stone"—a particular kind of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

—is one of the city's main exports, because it is very soft and workable, thus suitable for sculptures. Lecce is also an important

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

centre, chiefly for its

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: ...

and

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

production, as well as an industrial centre specializing in

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain, ...

production. Lecce is home to the

University of Salento The University of Salento ( it, Università del Salento, called until 2007 ''Università degli Studi di Lecce'') is a university located in Lecce, Italy. It was founded in 1955 by Giuseppe Codacci Pisanelli. The university of Salento commenced act ...

, founded in 1955 and enrolling more than 16,000 students as of 2017/18.

History

According to legend, a city called ''Sybar'' existed at the time of the

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans ( Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...

, founded by the

Messapii The Messapians ( grc, Μεσσάπιοι, Messápioi; la, Messapii) were a Iapygian tribe who inhabited Salento in classical antiquity. Two other Iapygian tribes, the Peucetians and the Daunians, inhabited central and northern Apulia respective ...

. It was conquered by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

in the 3rd century BC, receiving the new name of ''Lupiae''. Under the emperor

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania ...

(2nd century AD) the city was moved to the northeast, taking the name of Licea or Litium. Lecce had a theater and an amphitheater and was connected to the Hadrian Port (the current San Cataldo).

Orontius of Lecce Saint Orontius of Lecce ( it, Sant'Oronzo, sometimes or ; Leccese: ) is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, along with two other figures associated with his legend, Fortunatus and Justus. He is viewed as the first bishop of Lecce ...

, locally called Sant'Oronzo, is considered to have served as the city's first Christian bishop and is Lecce's patron saint. After the fall of the

Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...

, Lecce was sacked by the

Ostrogoth The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...

king

Totila Totila, original name Baduila (died 1 July 552), was the penultimate King of the Ostrogoths, reigning from 541 to 552 AD. A skilled military and political leader, Totila reversed the tide of the Gothic War, recovering by 543 almost all the t ...

in the Gothic Wars. It was restored to Roman rule in 549, and remained part of the

Eastern Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

for five centuries, with brief conquests by

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia ...

s and

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

. After the Norman conquest in the 11th century, Lecce regained commercial and political importance (count

Tancred of Lecce Tancred ( it, Tancredi; 113820 February 1194) was King of Sicily from 1189 to 1194. He was born in Lecce an illegitimate son of Roger III, Duke of Apulia (the eldest son of King Roger II) by his mistress Emma, a daughter of Achard II, Count of ...

was the last Norman King of Sicily), flourishing in the subsequent

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynas ...

and Angevine rule. The

County of Lecce The County of Lecce was a semi-independent Italo-Norman entity in Apulia, in south-eastern Italy, which existed from 1055 until 1463. Its capital was at the city of Lecce, and it was bounded by the territories of Brindisi to the north, Oria and ...

was one of the largest and most important fiefs in the

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...

from 1053 to 1463, when it was annexed directly to the crown. From the 15th century, Lecce was one of the most important cities of southern Italy, and, starting in 1630, it was enriched with precious Baroque monuments. To avert invasion by the Ottomans, a new line of walls and a castle were built by

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infa ...

(who was also

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

), in the first part of the 16th century. In 1656, a

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

broke out in the city, killing a thousand inhabitants. In 1943,

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

based in Lecce helped support isolated Italian garrisons in the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi ( Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...

during

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Because they were delayed by the Allies of World War II, Allies, they couldn't prevent a defeat. In 1944 and 1945, B-24 long-range bombers of the 98th Heavy Bomber Group attached to the 15th U.S. Army Air Force were based in Lecce, from where the crews flew missions over Italy, the Balkans, Austria, Germany and France.

Main sights

Churches and religious buildings

* Basilica di Santa Croce (Lecce), Church of the Holy Cross: Construction of the ''Chiesa di Santa Croce'') was begun in 1353, but work halted until 1549, and it was completed only by 1695. The church has a richly decorated façade with animals, grotesque figures and vegetables, and a large rose window. Next to the church is the Government Palace, a former convent. * Lecce Cathedral: The church was originally built in 1144, rebuilt in 1230, then totally restored in the 1659–70 by Giuseppe Zimbalo, who also built the five storey high bell tower, with an octagonal loggia. * Church of San Niccolò and Cataldo, San Niccolò and Cataldo: The church is an example of Italo-Norman architecture. It was founded by Tancred of Sicily in 1180. In 1716 the façade was rebuilt, with the addition of numerous statues, but maintaining the original Romanesque architecture, Romanesque portal. The walls were frescoed during the 15th-17th centuries. * Celestine Convent: Built (1549–1695) in Baroque architecture, Baroque-style by Giuseppe Zimbalo. The courtyard was designed by Gabriele Riccardi. * Santa Irene: This church was commissioned in 1591 by the Theatines and dedicated to Irene of Thessalonica, Saint Irene. The architect was Francesco Grimaldi (architect), Francesco Grimaldi). It has a large façade showing different styles in the upper and lower parts. Above the portal stands a statue of ''Ste Irene'' (1717) by Mauro Manieri. The interior is on the Latin cross plan and is rather sober. The main altarpiece is a copy of the ''St Michael the Archangel'' by Guido Reni. The high altar has a ''Transport of the Holy Ark'' by Oronzo Tiso. In the right transept is one of the largest altars in Lecce, dedicated to Saint Cajetan (1651). Nearby is the Rococo altar of Saint Andrew Avellino. Also from the mid-17th century is the ''Altar of St Orontius'' by Francesco Antonio Zimbalo, followed by the altar of Saint Irene with a canvas by Giuseppe Verrio (1639), nine busts of saints housing relics and a large statue of the saint. The altar of Saint Stephen has the ''Stoning of St. Stephen'' by Verrio. * San Matteo: This church was built in 1667. It has a typical central Italy Baroque style. It has two columns on the façade, only one of which is decorated, though only partially. According to a local legend, the jealous devil killed the sculptor before he could finish the work. * Santa Maria degli Angeli * Santa Chiara: This church was built in 1429–1438, rebuilt in 1687. * San Francesco della Scarpa: Known as the "church without façade" as the latter has been demolished in the 19th century restorations. The most ancient section dates likely to the 13th-14th centuries; the interior is on the Greek Cross plan. Notable are several Baroque altars and a large statue of Saint Joseph.

Other buildings

* Column of statue of St Oronzo: (Lecce's patron) was given to Lecce by the city of Brindisi, because Saint Oronzo was reputed to have cured the plague in Brindisi. The column was one of a pair that marked the end of the Appian Way, the main road between Rome and southern Italy. * Torre del Parco ("Park Tower") is one of the medieval symbols of Lecce. It was erected in 1419 by the then-18 year old Giovanni Antonio Del Balzo Orsini, prince of Lecce. The tower, standing at more than , is surrounded by a ditch in which bears (the heraldic symbol of the Orsini del Balzo) were reared. The whole complex was the seat of Orsini's tribunal and of a mint, and after Giovanni Antonio's death, it became a residence for the Spanish viceroys. * Palazzo Sedile: Palace was built in 1592 and was used by the local council until 1852. * Castle of Charles V: built in 1539–49 by Gian Giacomo dell'Acaja. It has a trapezoidal plan with angular bastions. It is attached to the Teatro Politeama Greco, Politeama Greco Opera House, inaugurated on 15 November 1884. * Triumphal Arch (''Arco di Trionfo'', commonly called ''Porta Napoli'', "Neapolitan Gate") which is one of the three gates to enter Lecce's historical city centre, erected in 1548 in honor of Charles V. It replaced an older gate, ''Porta S. Giusto'', which, according to tradition, lay over the tomb of the namesake saint. Also built over pre-existing medieval gates are the current ''Porta San Biagio'' ("St. Blaise Gate") and the ''Porta Rudiae'' which are the other two gates to Lecce's Historical city centre. Both are in Baroque style, the latter having the statue of St. Oronzo on the top and mythological figures on the sides. * Palazzo dei Celestini, now seat of the Province of Lecce. It was built in 1659–95 and designed by Giuseppe Zimbalo. * The city's obelisk, erected in 1822 in honour of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. File:Lecce01.jpg, City Square File:Puglia Lecce3 tango7174.jpg, ''Basilica di Santa Croce'' File:Puglia Lecce4 tango7174.jpg, File:Detail santa croce main vault.jpg, File:Lecce cathedral court 1.jpg, Detail of ''Lecce Cathedral, Piazza del Duomo'' File:Teatro Romano (Lecce).jpg, File:TORRE DEL PARCO - LECCE 2.jpg, File:PORTA NAPOLI 01.JPG, File:PORTA RUDIAE 01.JPG,

Gardens and parks

* Orto Botanico di Lecce, a botanical garden.

Archaeology

* The Roman 2nd century amphitheatre, situated near Sant'Oronzo Square, was able to seat more than 25,000 people. It is now half-buried because other monuments were built above it over the centuries. The theatre is currently used for different religious and arts events. * The archaeological museum ''Sigismondo Castromediano''. * The archaeological museum ''Faggiano''. * The archaeological park of Rudiae, three kilometres south-west of the city but within its limits. The place was identified as the former home of the poet Ennius by the Renaissance Humanist, Antonio de Ferraris, who was from the region. This was once the more important city until Roman times and has an amphitheatre of its own, a necropolis and remains of substantial walls. The Porta Rudiae, built on the road leading from this site, is named after it.

Geography

Climate

Lecce experiences a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification ''Csa'').

Sport

Lecce is home to Serie A (the highest football division in Italy) football club U.S. Lecce. Since 1966, they have played at the 33,786-seater Stadio Via del Mare.

Transportation

Lecce is served by Lecce railway station. The local public transport includes Trolleybuses in Lecce, trolleybus service, introduced in 2012.''Trolleybus Magazine'' No. 302 (March–April 2012), p. 43. National Trolleybus Association (UK). .

People

* Antonio Amantea (1894–1983), World War I fighter ace * Scipione Ammirato (1531–1601), historian and philosopher * Abraham de Balmes (c. 1450–1523), Jewish physician and translator * Carmelo Bene (1937–2002), actor, film director and screenwriter * Vittorio Bodini (1914–1970), poet and translator * Massimo Bray (born 1959), intellectual, academic publisher and politician, former director of the ''Italian Encyclopaedia of Science, Letters, and Arts'' (Enciclopedia Treccani), who served in the government of Italy as Minister of Culture * Ennio Capasa (born 1960), fashion designer, creator of the Italian fashion house CoSTUME NATIONAL * Franco Causio (born 1949), retired footballer, 1982 FIFA World Cup winner * Antonio Conte (born 1969), retired footballer, former manager of Juventus F.C., Chelsea F.C and Italian football team. Current manager of Tottenham Hotspur. * Francesco Danieli (born 1981), historian and iconologist * Cosimo De Giorgi (1842–1922), scientist * Ennio De Giorgi (1928–1996), mathematician * Cloe Elmo (1910–1962), opera singer * Quintus Ennius (c. 239–169 BC), Roman writer and poet * Vito Fazzi (1851–1918), physician and hospital founder * Barbara Lezzi (born 1972), politician, who served in the government of Italy as Minister for the South * Marco Materazzi (born 1973), retired footballer, 2006 FIFA World Cup winner * Michelangelo Schipa (1854–1939), writer, historian and scholar * Tito Schipa (1888–1965), tenor * Filippo Smaldone (1848–1923), Catholic priest and saint * Antonio Verrio (c. 1636–1707), painter in England

Twin towns – sister cities

Lecce is Sister city, twinned with:Lecce
"Gemellaggi"
, 3 November 2011, retrieved 16 August 2014 * Murcia, Spain, since 2004 * Skopje, North Macedonia, since 2005 * Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland, since 2006 * Valladolid, Spain, since 2009 * Amasya, Turkey

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Lecce, Cities and towns in Apulia Localities of Salento 200s BC establishments