Hotels near Basilica di Santa Croce

The Basilica di Santa Croce is the masterpiece of Lecce Baroque and the single sight that best explains the city's nickname. Built over roughly 150 years and finished in 1695, its facade is a riot of carved cherubs, beasts, flowers, and grotesques swarming around a great central rose window.

A row of 13 columns supports a balustrade of allegorical figures and mythical creatures, all carved from the soft, workable Lecce stone. The interior is calmer, a Latin cross of gilded altars, but it is the facade that visitors return to again and again to pick out new details.

Pro Tip: See it in late-afternoon light when the low sun rakes across the carvings and the stone turns deep amber. A small entry fee applies for the interior; the facade is free to admire from the street.