Come summer, global vacationers pack the powdery sands, rocky coves and other sublime seafronts that surround Puglia, Italy’s heel. Just inland, however, the beautifully preserved baroque city of Lecce offers ample rewards for anyone seeking a beach break. Awash in sun-bleached squares, palazzos and churches — most crafted from a butter-yellow stone known as pietra Leccese — the city’s historical core feels like a film set for a 17th-century period piece. But Lecce is more than a fetching fossil. Part of the city walls and a defensive bastion have been reborn as a museum and exhibition venue, while many centuries-old edifices have filled up with sumptuous hotels, contemporary art galleries and specialty wine bars. FRIDAY4pm | Look down on Lecce
From the bell tower of the Lecce Duomo, visitors can enjoy sweeping views of the city’s historical core. (Photo: The New York Times/ Matteo de Mayda)
Lecce’s most dramatic square, Piazza del Duomo, offers both an introduction to the city’s baroque architecture and panoramic views from atop the cathedral. Inside the Antico Seminario, a former religious school that now contains a ticket office (and a museum of religious art), you can purchase a LeccEcclesiae ticket (€21, about US$24 or S$31), which grants admission to the museum, the cathedral’s bell tower and several nearby churches. The box office also sells tickets for a sound and light experience in Lecce’s Santa Croce basilica (€15) and a guided tour of multiple Lecce churches (€20). Then cross the square, ride the elevator to the top of the 236-foot tower and gaze at the church towers, orange-tile roofs and blue of the Adriatic Sea, roughly 7 miles away.6pm | Sip a history-rich aperitivo
