Piazza Duomo

Walking along via Libertini to the intersection with via Palmieri, an unexpected spectacle unfolds before the visitor’s eyes: Piazza Duomo.\n\nFramed by two propylaea, this square is one of the main tourist attractions in the city of Lecce.\n\nIt is a splendid Baroque atrium accessed through a scenic and imposing monumental entrance, bordered by a harmonious sequence of Baroque buildings: the cathedral, the seminary, and the Bishop’s Palace.\n\nStepping into this enclosed space, visitors are struck by the dizzying height of the grand bell tower—built in the second half of the seventeenth century by Giuseppe Zimbalo in five tapered levels—and by the lavish lateral façade of the Duomo (dedicated to the Assumption), also by Zimbalo, a true triumphal arch erected in honor of Sant’Oronzo. The finely carved precious portal displays festoons and dancing putti, symbols of a Baroque that finds worthy expression in Lecce.\n\nThe sober main façade of the Duomo faces, instead, the Episcopio built in 1632, with its airy loggia, and the Seminary of 1701, which presents a harmonious façade decorated with a subtle rustication uninterrupted even by the tall pilasters.