During your holiday in Salento, guests of Arcadia Luxury Suites, will find themselves surrounded by the beauties that make the historic center of Lecce one of the most beautiful in Italy.
To reach the apartments you will surely pass through Porta Napoli, one of the three still existing and visible gates of the city, which stands out with the grandeur of a triumphal arch welcoming visitors inside the historic center of Lecce. Built in the mid-1500s in honour of Charles V who had built the fortification works of the city, Porta Napoli has undergone a recent restoration which, thanks to a lighting technology, embodies its majesty as one of the access points to a precious city.
Walking through the paved alleys of the old town centre you will come across the shop windows of several artisan workshops that offer visitors papier-mâché and wrought iron objects worked with skill by hand, that have been passed down through centuries of artisan tradition.
Your gaze will be captivated by the very particular baroque decorations that characterize and make rich and unique most of the churches in the historic center. The characteristic facade of the church of Santa Croce, recently restored, which, with its rose window has become, in the collective imagination, the symbol of the city.
Walking through the alleys of the city, you will see Piazza Duomo open in front of you, with its bell tower (visible from anywhere in the city), the Cathedral dedicated to the patron Saint Oronzo and the palaces of the Curia.
The white Lecce stone (a porous and calcareous stone used in Salento’s building industry) with which the buildings in the historic centre are built will contrast with the intense blue of the summer sky.
Walking along one of the main arteries of the historical centre, full of typical restaurants and shops, you will arrive in Piazza Sant’Oronzo where you can admire the Sedile della città (or Palazzo del Seggio), a building that opens, with its ogival windows towards the Roman amphitheatre, a perfectly preserved jewel and still today a stage for shows and concerts.
The advice we feel like giving to those who visit Lecce for the first time is to enjoy every corner of the city without haste, letting yourself be carried away by the scents and sensations typical of the places. For those who return to Lecce after having already visited it, we recommend instead to be surprised by counting the details that had previously escaped.