Location
Puglia & Salento | Lecce | Otranto
Lecce
Lecce is often referred to as “the Florence of the South” due to the many churches and beautiful 17th century Baroque architecture. The Baroque, however, is unique and very ornate as the masonry work is made from the Leccese stone, a very light sandy coloured limestone which is easy to carve.
After 10 years of living in this country, I think that Lecce is one of the most beautiful Italian cities and what makes it even more pleasant is the lack of tour buses, camcorders and “foreigners” and, it just FEELS like Italy, rather than just another tourist destination.
Sant’Oronzo was appointed Bishop of Lecce by St Paul in AD57, and later martyred by the Roman emperor Nero. In the picture here is the Sant’Oronzo’s Column on top of which is his bronze statue which dates back to 1739. 
