Basilica di Santa Croce

Place of Worship Salento, Italy

One of the most important and admired churches in Lecce. The first stone was laid in 1353, the construction was completed only in 1699 and bears the signs of the passage of this long period of time.

The facade, tripartite horizontally and characterized by the large rose window, is characterized by the richness of decorations and statues depicting animals and human figures of an allegorical nature. The interior, in the shape of a Latin cross, was originally divided into five naves, two of which were absorbed into side chapels in the 18th century. In the left transept stands out the altar of San Francesco da Paola, a masterpiece by Francesco Antonio Zimbalo, who built it between 1614 and 1615. On the two side doors there are the coats of arms of Santa Croce and of the Ordine dei Celestini, whose convent flanks and extends the church.