Lecce: some history...

It was founded by the messapics toward the half of the III century a.C., Lecce became a Roman military station (Lupiae): it subsequently passed under the Byzantine, Norman, Angioin and finally Aragonese dominion. In the XV century it developed and became an important business and cultural centre: in the following century it became a fortress of the Spaniards that built up new boundaries and the castle wanted by Charles V. The historical centre has a typical medieval order, with an irregular network composed by narrow streets and roads that bring to the main baroque monuments built up in leccese stone. 

The monuments and the "leccese Baroque".

Really important to visit are the Roman rests of a theatre and an amphitheatre back to the II century, the Basilica of "Santa Croce" and the Building of the Government, the Cathedral and its square, the Spanish Castle, built from 1539 to 1548 and the Castromediano Museum. In Lecce, also called "Florence of the South", you can find rich and magnificent decorations on the façades of the buildings, of the windows and portals, of the mouldings and balconies, of the staircases of the buildings, of the monumental altars. The so-called "leccese Baroque" develops from 1500 to 1700 and it interests not only architecture, but also sculpture and urban fittings. Among the main craftsmen and protagonists of this prodigious development there were the bishops, the great religious orders, the rich families, but above all master builders, decorators, builders, carvers of stone and artisans. 

The leccese paper-pulp.

The art of the paper-pulp is deeply rooted in the leccese culture made up by ancient tradition, passion, patience, handed down by generations. Walking in the historical centre of Lecce we can admire a lot of shops which thrill the visitors attracted by the beauty of the statuettes representing the characters of the crib, dolls or different things. The art of the paper-pulp represents the apex of the leccese craftsmanship, it is a popular art which reflects and paints the society of the XVII century. To realize a paper-pulp statue the craftsman has to create a support made up by iron wires in order to confer a certain consistence to the article. Then he surrounds the framework with cotton cloths: subsequently the body is wrapped by strips of paper soaked of glue, done with flour and water. The article is dried for some days: subsequently the rag doll is dressed using clippings of cloths and other poor materials enriched with amphorae, wood pieces, utensils of the ancient works. After the modelling of the folds with the technique of the "fuocheggiamento", the statuettes are distempered.