Lecce

Basilica di San Nicola

Bari's Romanesque basilica from the late 11th century, which holds the relics of Saint Nicholas brought from Myra in 1087.

Puglia is the heel of the Italian boot, between the Adriatic and the Ionian Sea. The album follows three days in early May 2022: from Bari south to Lecce, then back north to Brindisi. The light goes from almost cloudless blue skies on the first two days to an overcast sky on the last.

Bari

The Bari waterfront, with the Adriatic washing against the stone blocks and the city stretched along the bay.

Lecce

Baroque facades, old gates and honey-colored stone houses, by day and by night, in the streets of central Lecce.

In Bari, the Basilica di San Nicola, built in the late 11th century in the Romanesque style, holds the relics of Saint Nicholas, brought here from Myra in 1087, and draws pilgrims from both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Its plain facade of pale stone opens the album, followed by the city's waterfront, where the Adriatic washes against the stone blocks.

Piazza del Duomo

Lecce's enclosed cathedral square, with its bell tower almost 70 meters tall, the bishop's palace and the seminary.

Chiostro del Seminario

The seminary cloister on Piazza del Duomo, with arcades, potted orange trees and a well in the middle.

Lecce takes up most of the album. The city is known for its Baroque, carved in Lecce stone, a soft, honey-colored limestone that is easy to work with a chisel. The Basilica di Santa Croce, built over more than a century between the 16th and 17th centuries, has a facade crowded with figures, garlands and a large rose window, and its white interior is just as richly decorated. The palace next door appears at night, its facade lit from below.

Basilica di Santa Croce

The Baroque facade of the Basilica di Santa Croce, carved in soft Lecce stone, and its richly decorated white interior.

The Roman amphitheatre

The Roman amphitheater in Piazza Sant'Oronzo, only partly uncovered, a few meters below street level.

Piazza Sant'Oronzo

Lecce's main square, with the column carrying the statue of the city's patron saint.

Piazza del Duomo is an enclosed square surrounded by the cathedral, a bell tower almost 70 meters tall, the bishop's palace and the seminary, whose arcaded cloister with potted orange trees follows in the next chapter. In Piazza Sant'Oronzo, the Roman amphitheater, only partly uncovered in the 20th century, lies a few meters below street level next to the column that carries the statue of the city's patron saint. The Castle of Charles V, strengthened in the 16th century, and streets of stone houses and old gates complete the picture of the city.

Castle of Charles V

The low, massive walls of the castle strengthened in the 16th century, with a fountain in the square in front.

Monument to the Italian Sailor

The Monument to the Italian Sailor in Brindisi, a rudder-shaped tower inaugurated in 1933 on the shore of the inner harbor.

Brindisi has been an important port since antiquity and was where the Via Appia ended. On the far side of the inner harbor rises the Monument to the Italian Sailor, a tall tower shaped like a rudder, inaugurated in 1933. The photos show the harbor from above, the waterfront, the cathedral square and a narrow street leading to a bell tower, under a cloudy May sky.

Brindisi

Brindisi, the old end of the Via Appia: the inner harbor from above, the waterfront, the cathedral square and narrow streets.