14 Sights in Lecce, Italy (with Map and Images)

Porta Napoli is a triumphal arch city gate of Lecce, marking the entrance to the historic center of the city along with the other two existing gates Porta San Biagio and Porta Rudiae. It is located adjacent to the Arco di Triomphe square and in front of the obelisk of Terra d'Otranto.

Wikipedia: Porta Napoli (Lecce) (IT)

Valesio is an archaeological site south of Brindisi in the province of Brindisi, reachable from the Brindisi-Lecce highway at the junction for the municipality of Torchiarolo. In the Tabula Peutingeriana this site is referred to as Mutatio Valentia and is located halfway along the route of the so-called Via Traiana Calabra that went from Brindisi to Lecce and continues to Otranto.

Wikipedia: Valesio (città antica) (IT)

The church of Sant'Irene dei Teatini is a Catholic place of worship in the historic center of Lecce. It is dedicated to St. Irene of Lecce, patron saint of the city until 1656, the year in which Pope Alexander VII proclaimed the patronage of Lecce of a holy bishop: St. Oronzo.

Wikipedia: Chiesa di Sant'Irene (Lecce) (IT)

The church of Saints Niccolò and Cataldo is a medieval church of Lecce. Together with the Optiguous Monastery it was founded in 1180 by the Count of Stirpe Normanna Tancredi d'Altavilla, who became king of Sicily. The construction of the temple represents a real 'model' that innovated and at the same time then directed the architectural and stylical dictates for the creation of the so -called 'new Romanesque hydrutin school' hugging the now stale architecture of the first Romanesque of Terra d'Otranto, where The Latin-Bizino-Epirota component merged with the style of the Alps. Starting from Tancredi, stylistic models that survived for about two centuries until the construction of the church of Santa Caterina in Galatina, of the mid -fourteenth century; Arriving to dictate the architectural lines for the realization of the Cathedral of Matera. The Count donated the complex to the Benedictine monks, which followed in 1494, at the behest of Alfonso II of Naples, the Olivetan fathers who remained until 1807. In 1807 Napoleon sets high schools and the complex became high school. In 1870 the complex became the seat of the kindergarten and starting from the 80s, it is home to the faculty of cultural heritage.

Wikipedia: Chiesa dei Santi Niccolò e Cataldo (IT)

The church of Sant'Anna, together with the adjacent Conservatory of the same name, is a Baroque building in the historic center of Lecce built in 1680 and commissioned by Teresa Paladini, at the request of her husband Bernardino Verardi.

Wikipedia: Chiesa di Sant'Anna (Lecce) (IT)

The church of San Francesco della Scarpa is a church in the historic center of Lecce, so called in the sixteenth century when the Friars Minor who lived in the destroyed convent of Santa Maria del Tempio were divided into conventuals and observants: the former wore shoes unlike the latter.

Wikipedia: Chiesa di San Francesco della Scarpa (IT)

The column of Sant'Oronzo, about 29 meters high, is located in Piazza Sant'Oronzo in Lecce. On the top it houses the statue of the patron saint, until 2018 the historical one made in Venice in 1739 and from 2024 the new bronze copy made after the restoration of the ancient one that can no longer be hoisted on the column.

Wikipedia: Colonna di Sant'Oronzo (Lecce) (IT)

The church of San Nicola dei Greci, erected at the behest of Frederick II of Swabia in 1232, is a church in Altamura and is located on the main street of the historic center, Corso Federico II di Svevia, a few steps from the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta.

Wikipedia: Chiesa di San Nicola dei Greci (IT)

The Orto Botanico dell'Università di Lecce, also known as the Orto Botanico di Lecce, is a botanical garden operated by the University of Lecce and located at Via Provinciale Lecce-Monteroni, 73100, Lecce, Apulia, Italy.

Wikipedia: Orto Botanico dell'Università di Lecce (EN)

The sanctuary of Sant'Oronzo fuori le mura is a church in Lecce, Italy, located in Via Adriatica. Tradition indicates the Sanctuary as the place where St. Oronzo, the main patron saint of the city and of the entire Diocese, was martyred.

Wikipedia: Santuario di Sant'Oronzo fuori le mura (IT)

Porta San Biagio is one of the three access gates to the ancient nucleus of Lecce, dedicated to St. Blaise, bishop of the city of Sebaste in Armenia in the fourth century, born in Lecce and then left for Armenia due to persecution from the road on which this gate stands according to tradition. It forms the southern entrance to the ancient urban core. It is located near Piazza d'Italia.

Wikipedia: Porta San Biagio (Lecce) (IT)

The church of Santa Maria della Provvidenza, better known as delle Alcantarine by the nuns who occupied the adjacent monastery now demolished, is a church in the ancient village of Lecce. It was built in the early eighteenth century by the architect Giuseppe Cino. Subsequently, in 1724, at the behest of the client Giuseppe Angrisani, Baron of Torchiarolo, the project was modified and followed by the architect Mauro Manieri.

Wikipedia: Chiesa delle Alcantarine (Lecce) (IT)

The church of Sant'Antonio della Piazza, also known as the church of San Giuseppe after the saint after whom the confraternity that officiates there is named, is a church in the historic center of Lecce.

Wikipedia: Chiesa di Sant'Antonio della Piazza (Lecce) (IT)

The church of Sant'Elisabetta is a small church in Lecce, Italy, located in Via Libertini, in the historic center of the city. In ancient times it was dedicated to St. Andrew the Apostle and is also known as Chiesa Nova.

Wikipedia: Chiesa di Santa Elisabetta (Lecce) (IT)