The tour starts with a visit to the majestic Santa Croce Church, the jewel in the crown of Lecce’s Baroque architecture. From here, explore the nearby Piazza Sant’Oronzo, the former market square where you can find the Old Town Hall, the Roman Column, and the remains of a huge Roman amphitheater. Continue the tour with a walk through the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, which boasts a stunning Baroque palazzi and the recently restored Sant’Irene Church. Arrive at the breathtaking Piazza Duomo next, one of the most critically praised buildings in Italy. See the Archbishop’s Residence, the Seminary, the Bell Tower, and the cathedral. Finally, visit the underground Jewish Museum and discover the town’s fascinating Jewish history.

Meet the guide at Porta San Biagio, one of the four main old gates of the city - do all four still exist? - and start an amazing discovery of this small, but enchanting town. See what makes San Matteo church unique amang the numerous churches of the city centre. Stop in Piazza Duomo and enjoy the beauty of this elegant square unique in its "closed" shape. Learn about the old papier-mâché tradition by visiting a workshop where you will see the construction phases of a papier-mâché statue At the relaxing pace of a walk with friends, the guide will lead you across the alleys of the historic center and through anecdotes and details will let you discover the wonders of this fantastic Baroque city, such as the facade of the Basilica of Santa Croce, which looks like an embroidery or the sculptures that embellish the balconies of noble residences. You will discover the history of Piazza Sant'Oronzo, listen why a column of the Via Appia, an ancient Roman road, ended up in Lecce; why the emblem in the center of the square depicts a she-wolf and what are the allegories of the great Clock of Wonders. Between one monument and another you will stop to savor the local specialities, such as rustic: puff pastry disc filled with mozzarella, tomato and béchamel; or the pettole: small balls of leavened dough, in white or pizzaiola style, a typical appetizer on Christmas Eve and you cannot skip the pasticciotto, the king of Salento pastry: a base of shortcrust pastry filled with custard. These are just some of the samples. You'll find out the rest at the moment, we don't want to spoil the surprise!

Following a pick-up from Naples Gate, drive to the historic city of Lecce to admire Baroque buildings, whitewashed houses, and more. Your tour of the “Florence of Southern Italy” includes Lecce Cathedral. Originally built in 1144, and completely restored between 1659-70, the addition of a 5-story bell tower and octagonal loggia helped turn it into one of Italy’s most important cathedrals. Continue to the Church of the Theatines, dedicated to St. Irene, and marvel at the expansive façade of different styles. The portal is surmounted by a statue of St. Irene by Mauro Manieri, while the altar of St. Michael the Archangel boasts a copy of an eponymous painting by Guido Reni. Nearby is the Rococo altar of St. Andrew Avellino, and the mid-17th-century altar of St. Orontius by Francesco Antonio Zimbalo. Admire the altar of St. Irene with its canvas by Giuseppe Verrio, and the 9 busts of saints housing historic relics. See the altar of St. Stephen, containing the “Stoning of St. Stephen” by Verrio. Visit the 2nd-century BC Roman Amphitheatre near Piazza Sant'Oronzo. Once able to seat more than 25,000 people, it is now half-buried by monuments built over it throughout the centuries. Go to the column that holds a statue of Lecce’s patron saint, St. Oronzo, given to the city by Brindisi for St. Oronzo’s reputed role in curing Brindisi of the plague. Once one of a pair, it marked the end of the legendary Appian Way, the main road between Rome and southern Italy. Walking through the streets of the old town, visit the Church of Santa Chiara and Roman Theatre.

The discovery of Lecce starts from the beginning, pre-Roman and Roman, to the great period of the Baroque. Take a walk to the historic center that will take you to discover the wonders of Lecce, one of the most beautiful cities of southern Italy. The route starts from Porta Napoli to Piazza Duomo, Cathedral, Bell Tower, and Bishop's Seminar, the baroque heart of Lecce. Continue walking to the Church of St. Irene, Piazza Sant'Oronzo, where you can see the ruins of the Roman amphitheater, the church of San Marco and the Sedile. Walking through the streets of the old town, you will visit the Church of Santa Chiara and Roman Theatre, other important particulars of the story of Lecce. During the tour, you will taste a typical pasticciotto, a cake made with pastry and cream. The tour ends at the Basilica of Santa Croce, a jewel of Lecce Baroque and Celestine Convent.

Meet your friendly guide at Porta Napoli, the arch of Triumph which marks the entrance to the historic city center. After a short meet and greet with your friendly and informative guide, set-off on your 2-hour sightseeing tour and get acquainted with the city of Lecce. Follow your guide from the heart of the city to the baroque Cathedral. On your tour, discover the Roman Amphitheater built between the 1st and 2nd-centuries BC, which in the past could hold about 25,000 spectators. At the end of your tour, you will stop under the column of the Patron of the city, Sant' Oronzo, who would rid the city of the plague. Throughout the course of your tour, visit many of the city's most culturally and historically significant landmarks and learn about Lecce through your knowledgeable guide.

Baroque Lecce is extremely well known, but the 17th century is just a recent part of a long history for this city. Lecce has been influenced by many ancient and important cultures, including Messapians, Greeks, Byzantines, Normans, French Angevins, and Spanish Aragonese. Begin your journey through the streets and alleys of medieval Lecce, focusing on its Jewish community. Visit Via della Sinagoga, the old path which used to lead to one of the most beautiful synagogues in South Italy. Following that, discover Vico della Saponea alley and walk through Via Abramo Balmes, a street dedicated to one the most important Jewish figures in Lecce. Take a trip back in time by visiting the evocative underground area of the Jewish Museum. The area is situated on the remains of the Synagougue, and includes a mikveh and mezuzah. Learn more about the Jewish community, including why the Jews were forced to leave Lecce.

Shrouded in mystery and immersed in the olive groves that cover the area outside the city of Lecce, the origins of the abbey complex can be traced back to Tancred, King of Sicily who, legend has it, was visited here by an apparition of the Virgin Mary. In more concrete terms, the story of Cerrate began under the Norman prince Bohemond I of Antioch who, some time between the 11th and 12th centuries, founded a monastery there of Basilian monks of the Greek Orthodox rite, who turned it into one of the most important hubs for the propagation of culture in southern Italy, thanks to its library and flourishing scriptorium, where the monks would transcribe ancient texts.Over subsequent centuries, the abbey grew in size and prestige, complementing its religious role with farming, but in 1711 an attack by Turkish pirates resulted in it falling into a state of complete abandonment, interrupted only in 1965 by an initial restoration commissioned by the Province of Lecce, which in 2012 entrusted to FAI a new salvage operation geared towards opening the property to the public. Today, the restoration is ongoing, but this situation does not prevent visits to what is a wonderful example of Puglian Romanesque, embellished with Byzantine 13th-century frescoes and flanked by an elegant 16th-century well and a 13th-century loggia with beautiful capitals sculpted from white Leccese stone – a true masterpiece of Romanesque sculpture. The agricultural vocation of the site, given over to the processing of olives, wheat and tobacco, emerges from the workplaces and from the farmhouse, the stables and the underground mills with their grindstones, presses and tanks. These are all pieces of a complex mosaic to be restored and reconstructed, but already capable of recounting a chapter of the history of the Salento area.

We will visit: Porta Napoli Duomo di Lecce, Piazza Duomo S. Irene Basilica di Santa Croce, Piazza S. Oronzo (Sedile, anfiteatro romano)

The "Sfioramenti" experience, an integrated program of bio-natural massages and holistic disciplines specifically designed for female psychophysical and emotional well-being, with sessions that do not follow standard protocols and predetermined techniques but which adapt to the person through a careful evaluation of the differences individual, cyclical, emotional evolution and changes that physiologically follow one another, day by day, in women. The program is inspired by the Taoist theory of the "5 elements" (water, wood, fire, earth, metal) and consists of 5 sessions of holistic, ethnic, Eastern and Western massage, integrated with pre-sessions of Mindfulness, meditation and relaxation (emotional, anti-stress, bioenergetic, rebalancing, reflexological session). The sessions have a variable duration of 120, 150 and 180 minutes. The goal is, in fact, to enjoy the beneficial effects, not only during the session and in the hours immediately following, but also for several days afterwards: the longer the duration of the massage, the greater and "exponentially increasing" these benefits will be. both physically and psycho-emotionally. I also conceived, developed and perfected (registered trademark) the MindfulnessTouch® session, a formal practice of dynamic meditation integrated with the "awareness of touch", in which ancient holistic, ethnic and oriental massage techniques, revisited on the basis of the Pnei paradigm , dialogue with the "aware meditation of breathing and bodily sensations". It represents a synergy of tactile and meditative experiences that allows us to fully experience a certain moment, an evolution towards a sometimes surprising, unique and unexpected rediscovery of oneself: while Mindfulness makes the mind attentive, open and sensitive, a "psychosomatic and emotional" massage with an empathetic, aware, delicate and welcoming touch (characterized by fluid, slow and enveloping movements), calms psychoemotional tensions and promotes a state of deep relaxation. Some of my clients have compared their state of psychophysical well-being after a 180-minute MindfulnessTouch® session to "a weekend holiday without the stress of travel".

Did you know that Thomas Ashe named Lecce the “most beautiful city in Italy”? You have a chance to find out for yourself! The historical center and the monuments of Lecce are rich in unusual ornaments and colorful decorations. Would you like to find out what they characterize? Together with the professional local guide, you will walk through this wonderful city. It is a must for lovers of art and culture. Is Lecce on the heel of the boot? At the end of the tour, the guide will take you to the local bakery. You will try “Apasticciotto”- a famous traditional pastry. You have to pay extra for the church entrance. You will also get to experience the following attractions: - Basilica di Santa Croce - Centro Storico - Museo Faggiano - P.za del Duomo - Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption and Saint Orontius