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Whether or not you like the Baroque style, you can't fail to be impressed by the exuberant building styles on display in
LECCE
, though the fact that they are firmly in the grip of a largely unremarkable modern city does detract from the enjoyment. Previously prey to opportunist attack, the city began a settled era signalled by the defeat of the Turkish fleet at Lepanto in 1571. The subsequent arrival of religious orders (Jesuits, the Teatini and Franciscans) brought an influx of wealth which was reflected in the building of opulent churches and
palazzi
, and it's this architectural extravagance that still pervades 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 hardened with age. Unfortunately, modern pollution is in danger of ruining many of the buildings, keeping the mass of stonemasons and carpenters who still work in Lecce well occupied.
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