Lecce, Italy

The exuberant building styles on display in LECCE are the legacy of religious orders (Jesuits, the Teatini and Franciscans) who came to the region at the end of the sixteenth century, bringing an influx of wealth which paid for the opulent churches and palazzi that still pervade today's city. The flowery style of "Leccese Baroque" owed as much to the materials to hand as to the skills of the architects: the soft local sandstone could be intricately carved and then became hard with age. Unfortunately, modern pollution is in danger of ruining many of the buildings, keeping the mass of Lecce's stonemasons and carpenters well occupied.