Last Wander in Lecce

This is my last day in Lecce. I spent this afternoon the way I started my time here. I went for a wander in Lecce. Or, to be more specific, Lecce’s centro storico (old town).

One of the churches I went into during my wander in Lecce: Cheisa del Rosario
One of the churches I went into during my wander in Lecce: Cheisa del Rosario

There is a lot to be said for tourism-by-wandering-around. Guidebooks are great for making sure you don’t miss the big attractions in a city or town. You, know, the stuff that if you don’t see them then, when you get back, your friends and relatives will mock and chastise you. “What? You went all the way to x, and spent all that money, and you didn’t see y and z? What the heck is the matter with you?”

Your friends might use stronger language than “heck.” But I have refined friends and relatives.

And, golly gosh, strangers might stumble on this journal and judge me. I know. It’s unlikely they’ll find this. Still, I’d be mortified if I didn’t live up to the expectations those strangers didn’t yet have of me. (Nine out of ten literary scholars recognize that regular reading of this journal will lower the expectations people have of me.)

But rigorously following a guidebook doesn’t give you the full flavour of the place. Wandering around randomly does. I do a lot of that. I should probably do more of it.

And if there’s any place where you want to experience its full flavour, it’s a place with as much character as Lecce’s old town.

A Random, but not Entirely Purposeless Wander in Lecce

Another of the churches I went into during my wander in Lecce: Chiesa di Sant'Irene
Another of the churches I went into during my wander in Lecce: Chiesa di Sant’Irene

My wander in Lecce was indeed random. Like that stroll on my first day here, I didn’t consult a guidebook. I didn’t look at a map. I just rambled.

If I came to a cross street and looked to my right and saw it looked like it might be more interesting than the street ahead, I turned right. Likewise, if left looked like the more interesting option, I went there. If I came to a fork in the road I took it. (I understand Yogi Berra was a somebody in sports, I think baseball. I’m not a sports fan, so I don’t know much about who he was. But I thank him immensely for that nonsensical inanity, even if he was probably trying to be serious.)

But, while my wander in Lecce was relatively random (if intentionally going in the direction that looks most appealing can be considered random), it was not entirely without purpose. I’d walked most of the old town’s streets already this trip. (No, I’m not that type of streetwalker.) But I wanted to notice things I hadn’t noticed before.

So I spent more time looking up at architectural forms and decorative elements on the buildings in the old town than I did until this afternoon. And if I, by total happenstance, passed a church that was old, open, and free, I popped in to take a look, even if it wasn’t one recommended by my guidebook.

Churches Stumbled Upon My Wander in Lecce

And another of the churches I went into during my wander in Lecce: Chiesa di Santa Theresa
And another of the churches I went into during my wander in Lecce: Chiesa di Santa Theresa

Further to that, I did indeed stumble upon and go into some old churches during my wander in Lecce that I hadn’t been into before. I didn’t count them, but if you’re a keener you can count the pictures I posted here. There aren’t that many so you should have no problem performing that count if you’re even the least bit less lazy than I am.

I won’t describe all of the churches. They all had different sizes and a few variations of shapes. And there were, of course, different paintings and statues in each. But because baroque runs rampant in Lecce’s churches—it’s the city’s signature—they also all feel very similar.

There are frilly, fussy non-support columns with statues and/or spiralling designs on the narrow side chapels. Paintings and/or other statues also adorn those side chapels.

The ceilings differ, but it doesn’t take away much from the feeling of higher-level sameness.

And still another of the churches I went into during my wander in Lecce:: Chiesa Santa Maria della Grazia
And still another of the churches I went into during my wander in Lecce:: Chiesa Santa Maria della Grazia

I also strolled by some old churches that looked like they might be interesting inside, but they were closed. I didn’t go into those because I have just barely more than a week left on this trip and I didn’t want to spend the time in jail.

I know. I have to learn to live more adventurously, right?

I will, however, briefly mention a couple of churches I went into.

One is quite prominent, Chiesa di Sant’Irene. I walked by it many times during my time in Lecce. But I thought it was closed. The entire front facade is blocked by scaffolding. Covering that scaffolding is a trompe-l’œil. I would have taken a picture of the trompe-l’œil, which I assume accurately reflects the facade of the Chiesa di Sant’Irene behind it. The bottom, left fourth or so of the trompe-l’œil is a giant ad for a model of a Ford car. I forget the model name, but it’s two English words.

The rest of the ad in front of a church is in Italian. I couldn’t understand it. In my mind, it says, “God drives a Ford, you should too.” I’m probably wrong about that.

Today, I looked more closely at the scaffolding and trompe-l’œil and saw that there was a gap in front of the open door. I went in.

Dammit, Lecce is lousy with churches isn't it, this is Santuario San Fillipo Smaldone
Dammit, Lecce is lousy with churches isn’t it, this is Santuario San Fillipo Smaldone

By the way, according to my guidebook, Chiesa di Sant’Irene is named after Lecce’s former patron saint. Former? What does one have to do to get booted out of a patron saint gig? Why aren’t they for eternal life?

The other church I’ll mention is Chiesa del Rosario, aka Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista. It’s a beautiful church with a less-than-beautiful ceiling. It’s a bunch of dark brown slats in front of a flat dark brown ceiling. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. It was supposed to be a dome.

But the architect of the church, Giuseppe Zimbalo. died before the church was completed. So they threw up a makeshift roof. What? Were there no other architects who could build a dome? “Hey, he’s dead. Let’s save some money and put in an ugly roof rather than staying true to his vision. It’s not like he’ll know. And God won’t care. Believe me. He’s got more churches than he knows what to do with.”

Other Interesting Things I Saw During My Wander in Lecce

Roman column
Roman column

I haven’t even mentioned until now the huge Roman column that stands in the large public square that also contains the Roman Amphitheatre. It used to be part of a pair in Brindisi that marked the end of the Via Apian Way in Brindisi. But Brindisi gave one to Lecce to thank Sant’Oronzo for ending the plague in Brindisi. Yeah. That was Oronzo’s doing. For sure.

I also didn’t mention before now the beautiful clock on the wall of a bank building by that square.

At a couple of points today, I stepped out of the old town just far enough to turn around, see, and photograph a couple of the gates into the old walled city of Lecce. (The walls are mostly gone now.)

Lecce Summary

Bank clock
Bank clock

As I said, this is my last day in Lecce. It probably came across in this and my previous posts on Lecce, but I really like this city, or at least its old town.

Four nights was probably the right amount of time to spend here at this time of year.

I say at this time of year because there are plenty of day trips you could take from Lecce down the coast. (I’ll be up the coast at a later stop on this trip.) There are also day trips that look interesting on the other side of the peninsula that forms Italy’s stiletto heel. But those group day trips aren’t offered at this time of year. Or they’re offered, but then not run because they don’t have enough customers.

Of course, if you are not averse to renting a car you can do those day trips yourself at any time of year. Or if you are travelling with enough people, you can offer the tour companies enough customers that they’ll run the tour just for you if necessary. Or you can spend the money and book a private tour.

Two of the gates into Lecce's old walled town
Two of the gates into Lecce’s old walled town

Also, most of those places are accessible by train or bus, but it usually will take twice as long, and often more, to get to your day trip destination(s) than if you or a guide drives there directly.

I think that there are a lot more group tour options in the high season. So if you come then you might want to build in more time in Lecce so you can go on a few.

Of course, you’ll probably have to deal with much bigger crowds in the high season. Nothing is perfect in this life.

I can’t tell you if the newer part of Lecce is interesting. I barely stepped into it. I looked out from my perches in or near the old town a few times. It looked uninspiring. So I didn’t explore. And my guidebook didn’t mention any sites there. If you spend more time in Lecce and check out the rest of it, please let me know what it’s like.

For me, this is almost it for Lecce on this trip. It’s been great.

Buona notte, Lecce
Buona notte, Lecce

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