Highly-ornamented Baroque façade of Chiesa di Santa Croce, built between 1353 and 1695, showing rose window. Lecce, Puglia, in the heel of Italy
The Church of the Holy Cross (Chiesa di Santa Croce) in Lecce, the Salento area of Puglia, in the heel of southern Italy, was begun in 1353 but work soon stopped, resuming in 1549; completion came in 1695. Its richly-decorated Baroque façade of animals, vegetables and grotesques was made possible because of the local limestone (tufigna), a malleable, easily-sculpted limestone which is Lecce’s main export. Other exports are olives, wine and ceramics. Lecce (pop: 94,000: 2017) has been described as Florence without the tourists and the purest Baroque walled town in Italy. The local language is Griko. Lecce has in turn been Greek; Roman (from the 3rd century BC); sacked by the Ostrogoths; Byzantine for five centuries from 549; ruled briefly by Saracens, Lombards, Hungarians and Slavs. Conquered by the Normans in the 11th century, and flourished under the Hohenstaufens and Angevins. Annexed to the Kingdom of Sicily 1053-1463. A new line of walls and a castle were built against the threat of Ottoman invasion by King Charles V in the first part of the 16th century.
Size: 5100px × 3403px
Location: Lecce, Salentine Peninsular, Puglia, Italy
Photo credit: © Robin Chapman / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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