Things to do in Lecce

City walk covering the best shops, bars, restaurants, amenities and other secrets

This walk has been carefully designed to quickly orientate you to the most important parts of Lecce. It includes all of the best amenities, sights, parks, cafes and even a school offering free language lessons. It takes about two hours with short visits to the churches and coffee stops.

The walk starts from the Alvino Pasticceria (number 30) in Piazza Sant Oronzo. Straight ahead is the Column of St Oronzo (Colonna di Sant Oronzo) and the second century Roman amphitheatre (anfiteatro Romano). The amphitheatre, which would have held around 20,000 people, was discovered in 1901 when the Banca dfItalia was being built. Half of the amphitheatre is covered by the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie. Turn left out of the cafe and left again at the corner of the square after the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie into the unmarked Via Fazzi. There is a speciality delicatessen on your left at number 4 and a butcher (macelleria) at number 10.

At the end of the road cross over the busy Via XXV Luglio. With the Castello Carlo V (the castle) on your left, walk straight ahead towards the Fontana dell Armonia (Fountain of Harmony) in Largo dell Aeronautica. The trapeze-shaped castle in its present form was built between 1539 and 1549 from two medieval towers. Since this time it has been used as prison, a court, a military headquarters and is now used for exhibitions. Inside there is a shady central courtyard and a TIC centre. Continue along the palm-lined pedestrian area that runs parallel with Via Marconi. There is a multi-screen cinema on the right as you approach the fountain. At the far corner of the castle on the other side of Via Marconi is the superb pasticceria Cotognata Leccese. After trying one of their speciality confettoni chocolates, cross the road into Piazza Libertini with the statue of Guiseppe Libertini facing you. During the mornings and some afternoons there is a busy clothes market here. Continue straight ahead, passing a large fourstorey building on your right which is the post office. The iron dragons on either side of the doors are old symbols of Mussolini's fascist regime. Continue past the castle until a T-junction with Via Salvatore Trinchese and the Oviesse clothes shop on the right.

Turn right and then immediately left into a shady pedestrianised area parallel with Viale F. Cavallotti and continue straight ahead. At the traffic lights (sernaforo) turn left and immediately right into the park (Giardino Pubblico) opposite the school Scuole Elernentari Cesare. Continue along an avenue of lime trees. Turn left, past a playground, a bandstand with a green-tiled roof and the Caffe del Parco. Walk between the busts of C. Libertini and A. Panzera (at 90 degrees to the path you came into the park on) and stroll down to the gates to leave the park.

Cross over Via XXV Luglio and into the Palazzo dei Celestini, which is marked 'La Resistenza' on a stone plaque on the left of the entrance. Cross the courtyard where there are often concerts and walk out on to Via Umberto I. Turn left to visit the Basilica di Santa Croce. This was commissioned between 1548 and 1695 and is famous for its rose window above the entrance.

Turn right out of the basilica, soon passing the excellent Centro Turismo Culturale tourist information centre on the right at number 13a. Take the first left into Via Idomeneo which forks after about 30m at number 75. Bear left and continue straight through a small piazza. After a couple of minutes there is another fork with Via C. Gaufrido. Bear left, continuing along Via Idomeneo until a T-junction with Via Guiseppe Palmieri. Turn right at this T-junction, passing the parish church (parrocchia) of Santa Maria della Parta before reaching Porta Napoli.

Porta Napoli is over 20m high and was built in 1548 in honour of Charles V. Passing through Porta Napoli there is a tennis club on the right and an interesting central stone obelisk with fish carvings. This was erected in 1822 in honour of Ferdinand I of Boubon. Retrace your steps back through Porta Napoli and turn right, back into Via G. Palmieri. On your right at number 78 is the church-run Centro Caritas, which organises free languages lessons. The Teatro Paisiello is almost opposite and was inaugurated with the Masked Ball Opera (I1 Ballo in Maschera) in 1870. It is a small theatre with just 320 seats, decorated in mint green, restored and reopened in 1993. It is also the oldest theatre in the town and has regular concerts and plays, some of which are free.

Take the third right into Piazzetta Ignazio Falconieri. Straight ahead is the Palazzo Marrese with its striking eighteenth century facade and long balcony with supporting consoles. On either side of the main door are two pairs of caryatids. Acanthus leaves decorate the lower windows and shells the upper windows. Turn left around the Palazzo into Vico Della Cavallerizza. At the T-junction with Via Malennio turn left. At the next T junction with Via Sumno, turn right, but before doing so look left to see the top of the bell tower (campanile) near the Duomo. At the next T-junction with Luigi Scarambone turn left. Continue straight ahead, passing a dance centre on the left at number 61 and a Conad minimarket opposite. Continue going straight passing a drinking fountain on the right and a yoga centre on the left between numbers 19-21.

At the crossroads with Via G. Libertini turn right past a cobbler at number 9 (on the left). Also on the left is the Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista/ Rosario d'Ajmo. This was built between 1691 and 1728 and has winged horses on its facade. The pulpit is the only church in Lecce to use local stone. Next to the church is the eighteenth century Accademio delle Belle Arti, which was once a monastery. Opposite is the Spedale dello Spirito Santo, which dates back to 1392. It was previously used by Dominican friars to nurse sick pilgrims and is now a cinema. Continue straight ahead through Porta Rudiae which is the most western point of the town walls. The gate once led to the now destroyed Messapian town of Rudiae where the Latin poet Quinto Ennio was born. It was rebuilt in 1703 and has the Saints of Oronzo, Irene (see below) and Domenico on the arch of the gate. Through the arch on the left is the Caffe Rudiae Gelateria and Pasticceria. Behind this lies the covered food market. If you need a laundrette turn right along Viale dell universita: it is a five-minute walk away on the left hand side of the road.

To continue the walk, return through the Porta Rudiae and along Via Giuseppe Libertini back past the Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista/ Rosario d Ajmo. The next church on the right is the Chiesa di Sant Anna built in 1680. The statues of St Peter and St Paul are on each side of the door but have been badly eroded. The Conservatorio di Sant Anna next to the church was for 'virgins, widows and ill-married woman' to find shelter and live a life of prayer and good works. Continue straight ahead, along the main shopping street with cafes and cheap pizzerias, until you reach the Piazza del Duomo on the right. The double facaded Duomo is in front of you as you enter the Piazza and the seventeenth century bell tower (campanile) is on the left. The Duomo was rebuilt between 1549 and 1695 replacing an earlier Norman church dating from the twelfth century. The Bishop's Palace Palazzo Vescovile and Episcopio on the right of the Duomo were homes to eunuchs that were sent to the Vatican for their highly prized singing voices. Above the door of the Bishop's Palace is a clock by Domenico Panico. On the right of the Piazza is the Seminario, which houses the Innocentian Library which has over 10,000 books.

Leaving the Piazza del Duomo, turn right into Via Vittorio Emanuele II. The church of Sant Irene is on the left opposite an excellent bookshop and the cafe La Cicala di Perulli Luigi where the owner chills the glasses in summer. Opposite the church is the Blue Family discount Benetton shop. Continue along Via Vittorio Emanuele which leads back to Piazza Sant Oronzo and the start of the walk.