Palazzo del Seminario / The Seminar Palace (Lecce, Apulia, Italy)
N 40° 21.115 E 018° 10.132
34T E 259564 N 4470665
The Seminar palace (Palazzo del Seminario), located in vicinity of Lecce's cathedral, is one of numerous Baroque jewels of the town renown for it's architectural heritage...
Waymark Code: WM8BAP
Location: Puglia, Italy
Date Posted: 03/06/2010
Views: 5
Palazzo del Seminario (The Seminar palace), located in the immediate vicinity of Lecce's cathedral in town's historic centre, was built between 1694 and 1709 in Lecce-Baroque style. The Palace, commissioned by Bishop Michele Pignatelli, was designed and built by regional architect Giuseppe Cino.
The Palace's, a symmetric two-storey structure, is remarkable by a facade is created by a set of giant ashlar-pilasters raised on pedestals and two lines of eight windows with rich framing. The entrance protal, located in the middle of the facade, is surmounted by a large balcony with a window with three arches. The final visage of the Palace is crowned by a balustrade formed by columns separated by pilasters.
Lecce is a true Baroque city. The interesting presence of a great number of monuments gives to this city a nickname: "The Florence of the South". Here the Baroque is expressed in an unique way. The Lecce’s Baroque is characterized by the "pietra leccese" (Lecce’s stone) a particular soft and compact calcareous limestone, with a peculiar white-gold colour. This material made the Baroque decoration of this city an unique example of this art. Lecce’s Baroque is different from all other trends of this art of the XVIIth century. The Baroque diffused in Lecce during the Spanish domination, substituting the classical art and creating a style which left more space to the imagination of the artists.