Lecce - the Florence of the South (BBC channel) English version скачать в хорошем качестве

Lecce - the Florence of the South (BBC channel) English version

Nicknamed 'La Firenze del Mezzogiorno', the Florence of the South, Lecce is considered by many Italians to be the most beautiful town in the southeastern region of Puglia. The most mundane way to describe Puglia is as the heel on the Italian boot. A description far more evocative of its stunning geography is 'the Balcony of the Mediterranean'. From its vantage point of high limestone cliff tops, this long thin region looks down over the fantastically blue waters of the Adriatic and the Ionian Seas. Which is probably why so many Italians choose Puglia as their annual holiday destination, making the most of the beaches and the sun, and the beauty of cities like Lecce. It's not just modern day tourists who have invaded. The entire region, including Lecce, has played host to hordes of foreign visitors: some welcome, some less so. Cretans, Romans, Saracens, Swabians, they've all left their mark on every aspect of life, from food and language to agriculture and architecture. But it's architecture that today's Lecce is most celebrated for. The city enjoyed a real makeover in the 17th century, in many cases at the hands of Giuseppe Zimbalo, nicknamed 'lo zingarello' - the gypsy - because he wandered from project to project. Great floral, fertile facades covered the city's churches and palazzi, giving rise to a genre all of its own, 'Leccese Baroque'. Its buildings - the Basilica di Santa Croce, the Duomo, the Palazzo Vescovile - are so ornate, so over the top, that even today they seem to inspire the whole town with a certain light heartedness and exuberance. The softness and the colour of the local stone 'pietra leccese' are integral to this. There is a quality of light in Lecce that no visitor can ignore, reflecting off the soft white buildings and pavements. It continues to inspire artists, like contemporary sculptor Renzo Buttazzo, whose modern pieces, suggestive of coral reef, bone and seashells, are clear descendants of the flowers, fruits and garlands of the Baroque period.