Lecce: from Roman Theatre to Caffe Leccese

 First plan this morning was to find the small Roman theatre that is hidden away down narrow streets. This theatre dating from 1st-2nd century A.C was discovered in 1929 but only a part of it has been exposed as the rest is under buildings. There is a museum nearby but sadly no info board along the fence which restricts entry to the theatre.

The Seminary Palace is part of the Piazza Duomo complex of outstanding beauty and was also built by Zimbalo between 1661 and 1682. It is now the Diocesan  Museum of Sacred Art. This was the 5th part of the ticket we bought yesterday.

As with all monasteries and convents there is a cloister here, an under cover walkway around all four sides of a central garden area. This one is quite simple but does have a beautiful Baroque well.

The Chapel has a mix of Baroque and modern features.

Many of the rooms around the cloister have been put to use in a variety of ways. One houses a collection of photos of mainly Polish priests who were killed in Dachau and Auschwitz Concentration Camps.

Another is the library and has some very old books, some hand written and others examples of very early printing methods.

Several rooms had been made into a modern art collection.

Upstairs is the Sacred Art collection, pieces collected from churches in Lecce, either no longer in use, donated or on loan. From the window is a fine view of the piazza and the Duomo.

Orontius of Lecce or Sant' Oronzo was born in 22 A.D, was a Patron of Lecce and was martyred in Lecce in 68 A. D. He met Saint Paul when he was shipwrecked on  Salento, became a Christian, was later made first Bishop of Lecce and was eventually martyred for his refusal to give up his Christian faith. 

These two art works are of Sant' Oronzo, a larger than life size silver bust and a painting.

The intricate work in the gold and silver collection is amazing. This silver filigree 'calice' (the word is also used for a wine glass in this area) dated before 1671 was incredible.

As previously mentioned, in this area many of the statues in the churches are actually paper maché. The south of Italy has always been the poorer part so they  improvised. We have also seen fabulous marble interiors of churches that were just painted. This photo shows the detail that can be obtained with paper maché.

The skill is known as Cartapesta in Lecce.

Next it was time to try another of the local specialities Caffe Leccese or Lecce coffee. It is served with a small amount of almond milk syrup over ice, then the waiter pours a shot of hot coffee over the ice. Interesting but not something I would rush to have. Maybe I will try it somewhere else before we leave because the locals are very enthusiastic about it. Of course we are still sampling the pasticciotti. These two were pretty good.

After a bit more exploring the green tourist route we headed home as the temperature today was 32 degrees.