Piazza Sant'Oronzo

We awoke Thursday morning to beautiful blue sunny skies, although there was still a bit of a chill in the air. After a very Italian breakfast of espresso and a nutella and pastry cream filled pastry, we headed out to explore Lecce's old city, armed with our smart phones that we loaded with tourist apps and wikipedia.

As soon as you step outside in this city, you sense the long and diverse history of the place. Everywhere you look, there are churches, basilicas and cathedrals, some of whose construction dates back to the 16th century. Some of these buildings contain detail and artwork that is rivaled only by St-Peter's in Rome and Notre Dame in Paris. Frankly, while we were en route here, I commented to Brenda that I'm becoming a little tired of looking at all these churches, you've seen one, you've seen 'em all. It's almost like the big guy upstairs was listening in and decided to show me up. The churches here are nothing short of awe-inspiring. The kind of places where your jaw drops open as you stand beneath the central dome. Where you gape up in wonder at all the thousands of hours of work, the buckets of blood, sweat and tears, and the utter devotion that went into creating these masterpieces. I haven't posted many photos of the inside of these places of worship simply because pictures do not do them justice. However, I can't help but share one of the delightful cherubim I spotted in our visits.

In the early 1900''s, excavation was being undertaken in a couple of areas in the city. While construction work was being started for the new Bank of Italy building, the remains of a Roman amphitheater saw the light of day and, under the guidance of archaeologist, Cosimo De Giorgi, excavation lasted until 1940.

At present only a third of the entire structure has been uncovered. The church of Santa Maria della Grazia and the Piazza Sant'Oronzo were already in place when this discovery was made, so there was no way to uncover the rest without destroying two landmarks.

This structure is believed to have seated 25,000 people. When looking down into it, particularly at the iron gates through which gladiators and beasts once passed, one can only wonder how much blood was spilled, how much pain and suffering was inflicted, all in the name of entertainment.

In 1929, work in the gardens near the Roman Palace was halted when workers' shovels began hitting stone blocks. Under the supervision of architects, the digging continued until a 2000-year-old Roman theater was uncovered. It is estimated that the theater had a seating capacity of 5000. This structure would have hosted plays and musical events.

We finished off our day eating yet another pizza at LoRe Pizzeria chased down with a Perroni beer. After all, we worked up quite an appetite absorbing all that history and culture.Read more