Yesterday's southbound bus trip is a prelude to todays' trip. We are venturing to the tip Puglia, the "heel of Italy's 'boot". The new home base for our tour of the Art & Architecture of Puglia is Lecce (pop 94,375 in 2025) is only halfway down the 'heel', the Penisola Salentina. This morning's bus route completes that length.
Our first stop is the tiny town of Soleto (pop 5,078 in 2025). The bus stops some distance from the city gate. We walk past two-story, residential blocks of nondescript construction. We reach the Largo Osanna, a public park with benches and a playground. On the other side, we find the Porta San Vito (13th century) a Medieval gate looking strangely out of place.
Passing through the Porta, the roads narrow, but the buildings are no more interesting except for the appearance of the sun symbols in the metal and stonework – seems appropriate for the town of Sol-eto.
We turn left (south) and approach the weathered, west facade of the Chiesa di Santo Stefano (c1347). Like the Porta, the chapel seems out of place mixed with the generic architecture. Our eyes scan the 'melted' and melancholy rosone, the deserted campanile a vela, and the 'melted' carvings of the arch and lintel over the doorway.
Peering inside, however, the vision transitions to Oz-like Technicolor.
The the interior is covered in sumptuous frescos, though many of the lower surfaces reveal centuries of wear and rework. The chancel is slightly raised. The altar is a semi-circular niche with smaller niches to one side. At the top of this wall, the "Dio Padre", enthroned against a starry cielo supremo, holding a book with the Agnus Dei. He is surrounded by the symbols of the Quattro Evengelisti (angels, ox, eagle, lion) along with serafini and ophanim, types of angels.
Inside the the half-dome of the apse is an image of "La Pentecoste": the "Dio Padre e Il Figlio" are in the tondi with their arms stretched downward, releasing "La Discesa dello Spirito Santo" (dove), upon the "Apostoli Intorno alla Vergine Maria". The frescos around the half-cylinder show "Cristo Adolescente" and "Quattro Vescovi, padri della Chiesa Bizantina" (bishops), with another line of "Santi Vescovi" below.
All the saints and so forth are identified by the texts in their hands, all written in Greek, and display a surprising variety of skin tones in all the faces. Around the small room, life-sized figures stand just above eye-level, creating the sensation of being in a crowd of saints.
An "Annunciazione" scene (?) is to the right of the altar (Epistle) and shows how the frescos are painted over the years. The Vergine Maria is painted on an outer layer of plaster, while Gabriele Arcangelo is on a deeper layer, stippled and scratched with chisel marks to receive fresh plaster. On the left wall, the saints have been worn thin, but the images are retraced multiple times. Similarly, in nearby images or sometimes in the same image, the stylistic differences in the faces and the clothes show the accumulated change of restoration and interpretation.
The wall on the left (north) depicts scenes from the "Vita di Cristo" in three registers, including "I Magi" (upper left), "La Fuga dall'Egitto", "Il Battesimo" (upper right), the "Resurrezione di Lazzaro" (middle center), and "L'Ultima Cena" (middle right, faded). The lower register show scenes from the "Passione di Gesù", including "Il Bacio di Giuda" (left), "La Crocifissione" (center), and "La Deposizione" (right, faded).
The wall on the right (south) are scenes from the "I Miracoli e Il Martirio di Santo Stefano" in two registers. Portraits of the chapel's patrons (upper left) begin the cycle, and beside them is a scene of "In Preghiera e a Banchetto". In the center of the upper register is "Nascita di Santo Stefano", and next to that, a magnificent naval scene, "Benedice un Personaggio in Riva al Mare".
Interestingly, both cycles include a Crocifissione scene, in this case, "Viene Strappato dalla Croce da un Angelo" (lower center) illustrates Santo Stefano's being saved from the cross by an angel. Santo Stefano's martyrdom is by stoning, as shown in the last cell at the far right. Among the eye-level saints, he inhabits the center of the south wall, between the "Madonna e Bambino in Trono" and the "Crocifissione", with a potato-like rock on his head.
On the back of the facade (west) is the most complete, consistent, and compelling fresco, "Il Giudizio Universale". Around the oculo is "La Deesis" (top image): "Cristo", "La Madonna" and "San Giovanni Battista", flanked by "Gli Apostoli".
Below the oculo, is a tondi with the Arma Christi with images of the unworthy being devoured on either side, in the "Allegoria della Terra" and the "Allegoria del Mare" (Revelations 13). Just above the portal is Michele Arcangelo in Angevin armor, with his scales and sword. To the left of San Michele, San Pietro (with keys) welcomes the deserving. While on the other side, demons force the damned into flaming holes, and into the mouth of the Drago dell'Apocolipse.
While we are inside Santo Stefano, the rain begins to fall and becomes heavy. We delay as long as possible before making a mad, damp dash back through the village to the bus stop. Luckily, the hardware store near the drop-off provides shelter as we wait (not long) for the driver to return. The short drive to Galatina (pop 25,193 in 2025) provides time for the rain to slacken and our coats to dry. The bus stops in the Piazza Gioacchino Toma. The group disembarks and walks the short distance to the Piazzetta Raimondello Orsini.
The central facade (facing southwest) of the Basilica di Santa Caterina d'Alessandria (1369-91) is a larger, wider version of the Santo Stefano's. A doorway and a rosone, but not much else. The upper gable is supported by thin buttresses – technically, they are flying buttresses, but by the slimmest of margins. The side gables stretch the facade and, to our American eyes, appear to be suburban 'additions' to the center; they are 'unbalanced' after-thoughts. For example, the vertical stresses from the buttresses land just behind the side doors.
However, unlike Santo Stefano, the stone carving is in outstanding condition. "Cristo tra i Dodici Apostoli" decorates the lintel over the door, and a ghostly portrait of "Santa Caterina d'Alessandria" (wheel over her shoulder?) adorns the lunette. The dynamic animal motifs in the door surround and the vegetal patterns in the archivolts are gloriously intact.
The interior is like an 'Emerald City' to Soleto's 'Munchkinland' – the same intense color, just so much more (interior @ entry). Unlike in many churches, the nave and aisles are ornately decorated, but the area around the altar appears to be plain white. Also, once inside, the 'unbalanced' look of the facade makes sense as there are slim deambulatori (narrow walkways) between the nave and the side aisles; we enter into the low, left corridor.
Again, like Santo Stefano, on the back of the tall facade is the "Allegorie dell'Apocalisse". Unfortunately, fragments of the fresco are illegible. The "Allegoria del Mare" is in the pointed arch frame above the door (seven-headed beast). In the lower left panel, the Beast makes war on armored men and at the right, the Beast devours the damned below the sette trombe (seven trumpets).
The register aligned with the arch is harder to read. On the left San Giovanni witnesses the "Adorazione dell'Agnello" (sacrifice of Christ), and on the right he watches "Un Gran Terramoto" (destruction of cities). Also interesting to see the restoration in progress, with the sinopia at the far right of the church.
The upper register around the rosone is also difficult. On the left, we can make out a tondi (Christ?) surrounded by the trombettisti, the penitent in prayer, and San Giovanni in the corner. On the other side is another battle scene where perhaps the Beast is defeated (?).
In the vault overhead, the frescos illustrate "I Sette Sacramenti": the far image shows Christ in the mandorla in support of the Pope, who receives the Word and the Keys, and then counterclockwise: Baptism, Confirmation, Confession, Communion, Holy Orders, Matrimony, and Unction. Near the center of the vault are small scenes that show the ongoing battle between Good and Evil.
The adjoining vault fresco (nearest the altar) shows the "Gerarchie Angeliche" with the serafini near the center.
Between the navata and the deambulatorio in the second bay, the frescos show scenes from the story of Adamo ed Eva. So right away, we are read both the Apocalisse and Genesi. The frescos continue the stories from the Old Testament, with Noah's Ark on the left of the arched opening. This bay also acts as a kind of crossing, as it is aligned to the stunning Abside Laterale, the Cappella Orsini.
Eight portraits of saints are in the chancel vault, including the Quattro Apostoli identified by symbols carried by the helpful angels: Matthew and Luke (@ choir, angel and ox), Mark (Epistle, lion), John (@ nave, eagle). Other portraits are in the quatrefoils around all the arches. The frescos dedicated to Santa Caterina d'Alessandria are on the sides of the chancel vault. Unfortunately, they are difficult to photograph, but we can see her 'in trono' portrait on the left under the Gothic arch. The scene of the breaking wheel is beside the portrait.
The third and last bay before the chancel (interior @ altar) The fresco cycle below the vault is the "Storie della Vita di Cristo": The Magi, Nativity, and Visitation (Epistle, top), Escape to Egypt and Slaughter of the Innocents (middle), and the Miracles, including the Raising of Lazarus (bottom right) and the amusing reactions of the crowd.
The lower register on the opposite side fulfills Christ's story with the Entry into Jerusalem and Last Supper (left), and Judas' Kiss (right). Below, on either side of the passage, are Carrying the Cross (left, sinopia) and the Crucifixion and Deposition (right, faded).
The Epistle Cappella Laterale honors San Francesco d'Assisi, who is shown in the timpano receiving the stigmate and in the left-hand panel cutting the hair of Santa Chiara d'Assisi – Santa Chiara is the founder of the Ordine delle Clarisse. Next to the figure of San Francesco is Santa Isabella del Portogallo and the Miracolo delle Rose – how nice to have a reminder of Portugal.
The navata destra tells the "Storia di Maria"; the entire aisle is coated in brilliant pigment, with a wainscot of warrior saints between the Cappella and the Abside. The Abside Laterale (Cappella Orsini) contains the "Deesis", as we saw in the oculo of Santo Stefano. A group of framed saints are in the drum, "Figure Gerarchiche in Piedi". Gabriele Arcangelo and Vergine Maria flank the Abside and form the "Annunciazione", which is then flanked by the "Risurrezione"and the "Deposizione". And on the wall opposite from the "Deposizione" is the "Dormito Mariae".
The ceiling of the navata destra is filled with scenes from the Marian cycle, presented in precious architectural 'doll house' settings, including the "Sposalizio della Vergine", the "Annunciazione", and the "Visitazione". This 'village' rests under a starry barrel-vault filled with heraldry, angeli, serafini, and the sun and moon.
Other symbolic scenes are now familiar, such as the "La Pentecoste".
Many of the frescos in the left hand (Evangelist) navata and deambulatorio are mounted fragments, and there is not a coherent story line.
Our familiarity is useful in identifying: "Sant'Agata" (pincher & breast), "Santo Stefano" (under arch, with rock), "Michele Arcangelo" (scales & spear), "Annunciazione", "Santa Lucia" (eye in bowl), and so on.
We have time for a quick look around Il Chiostro, with frescos by Fra' Giuseppe da Gravina di Puglia (1696). Compared to the interior, these frescos are more muted, more appropriate for contemplation than promotion. They are dedicated to both San Francesco d'Assisi and San Domenico di Guzman, founders of two important Catholic orders.
Il Refettorio is off Il Chiostro and is a wonderful barrel-vaulted room with a patterned ceiling. At either end, in the lunettes of the vault, are images of two meals: the "Nozze di Cana" (wine vessels) and "L'Ultima Cena" (faded, both 1696).
Near Il Refettorio is the Tesoro di Santa Caterina. This small museum (no photos permitted) features a micromosaico of the "Pantokrator" (c1300) as well as the reliquary with Santa Caterina's finger (15th century). The guidebooks tells the shocking story of the Basilica's dedication (our Director did not tell us about this!):
Raimondello Orsini Del Balzo participated in the crusades in Palestine. Br Bonaventure of Lama, a Franciscan historian of the 15th century, states that Raimondello ventured as far as Mount Sion, where St. Catherine is buried. There he paused to pray at her tomb and, on bidding farewell to the saint, "tore off with his teeth the finger which had the ring, given to her by Christ when she was espoused to Him, placed it behind his ear, covered it with his hair so that it could not be seen" and took it with him. When he arrived home he had the relic set in a precious reliquary engraved in silver, which we can still admire in the museum of the Basilica. (P Antonio Febbraro ofm, "Assisi Salentina," III Edizione)
We finish our trip down the 'heel' in Otranto (pop 5,565 in 2025). The bus drops us at the top of the Via del Porto, near the Castello Aragonese (late 15th century). The umbrellas of the cafes lining the wall shield the incessant drizzle.
We walk around the Castello, down towards the harbor, then up a stepped scaffold into the old town. We follow the Via Immacolata down to the Lungomare degli Eroi. From here we separate for lunch.
By the time we assemble after lunch, a slice of blue sky is overhead.
The tour restarts at the base of the Monumento Agli Eroi, in front of an outer bastion of the Castello, the Torre Alfonsina. The 'Eroi' are the heroes, over eight hundred citizens of Otranto who refused to convert to Islam and were killed by the Ottomans on August 14, 1480. From here it is a sort walk to the Cattedrale di Otranto (11th century). The simplicity of the southwest facade repeats, though there are classical touches, such as Composite columns. The large rosone looks fantastic, with some clear areas of repair to the Gothic tracery.
Instead of frescoed walls or vaults, the centerpiece of the Cattedrale is the "Mosaico Pavimentale" (1163-65). Deep, narrow, and difficult to comprehend, the floor is at least clear. We suppose the Cattedrale is caught between exhibiting the art and being a place of worship, but today there are no pews.
[Photography of the floor is practically impossible, but an excellent virtual tour made by digital artist Marco Stucchi is available; use the inline links. Special thanks to our Director who ran through the rain to buy postcards with the overhead image for us.Also available on the virtual tour page is a video of a historic reconstruction – click the movie camera icon on the linked page.]
The mosaico, symbolizing the 'Albero della Vita', is made in earthy tones (virtual tour). A wide line, the tree trunk, runs up the center of the floor, while two principal branches run up the sides. At the 'root' there are two elephants with drummers and trumpeters, and the inscription identifying the artist (Pantaleone):
EX IONATH(E) DONIS PER DEXTERAM PANTALEONISHOC OPUS INSIGNE EST SUPERANS IMPENDIA DIGNE
Chimeric creatures populate the floor near the entrance, climbing, pulling branches and eating leaves. On the right side is "ALEXANDER REX" ('Il Volo di Alessandro'), flying on a pair of griffins to see the whole world (griffins is what we need!). All of this gives a sense of the ambition of the project.
We walk into the northwest (Evangelist) aisle. Peering into the nave, we see a divide at the halfway point, two banner with inscriptions. Between the inscriptions is "NOE" (Noah), marking 'Il Diluvio Universale' (flood), and thus a break between the animals who preceded the catastrophe and those saved by 'L'Arca di Noè'.
The aisle floors are patterned but there are no images until we reach the Cappella Sinistra (virtual tour). Here is the closest thing to a 'last judgement', the "Storia della Salvezza". We see "INFERNUS SATAN AS" on the 'Inferno' side of the branch, and "I Patriarchi" (labelled as "IACOB", "YSAAC", and "ABRAMA") on the 'Paradiso' side. At the bottom of the 'Inferno', we find San Michele weighing the souls with "I Demoni Caronte e Cerbero" (Greek demons) ready to take wicked to the underworld.
At the top of the 'Paradiso' tree is "CERVUS" (a deer). On the other side are 'La Lonza, il Leone e la Lupa' (leopard, lion, she-wolf), the three animals that forced Dante's entry into The Inferno.
In the floor of the chancel (virtual tour), there are sixteen tondi arranged four by four. "EVA" and "ADAM" occupy the lower, center pair, between the Serpent around the Tree of Knowledge. At the top left are "REGINA AUSTRI" and "REX SALOMON" (Queen of Sheeba and King Solomon). The other twelve tondi contain real and mythological animals: a mermaid, "PASCA" (winged cat?), "GRIS" (antelope?), a centaur, a deer, a unicorn, a dromedary, and a dragon, an elephant, a leopard, a bull, and a 'behemoth'.
- Above the 'break' created by 'Il Diluvio', the top of the 'tree' is made of twelve roundels (three rows of four) representing 'I Dodici Mesi' (months). The top two images show "JANUS" (Capricorn the goat, man warming by fire) and "FEBR" (Aquarius the water bearer, man cooking) at one edge and "MARTIUS" (Pisces the fish, boy with thorn) and "APLIS" (Ares the ram, shepherd with flock) at the other.
- The next pair of images show "SEPTEMBER" (Virgo, vintner) and "OCTOBER" (Libra the scales, plowing a field), then "NOVEMBER" (Scorpio, sowing) and "DECEMBER" (Sagittarius the archer, pig butchering). In other words, after the deluge, the annual cycle continues; each season has a purpose.
- Below 'I Mesi' is the 'Il Diluvio'. On the left, "NOE" gets his commands from Dio (His arm) amongst all the farmers and shepherds – as if all the plants and animals are rising along the tree only to be cultivated and tamed by Man. But Man is corrupt, and 'Il Diluvio' is coming. On the right side of the trunk, the 'Arca' is aground, and the animals are on land. Overhead, 'La Colomba con Ramiscello di Olivo' (dove w olive branch) signals a fresh start. The banner inscriptions tell us more about the King and patron, the artist, and the work:
ANNO AB INCARNATIO(N)E D(OMINI N(OST)RI IESU CHRISTI MCLXV |(N) DICTION)E XIIII REGNANTE D(OMI) NO N(OST)RO W(ILLELMO) RÉGE MAGNIFI(CO)HUMILIS SERVUS IESU CH(RISTI) IONATHAS HYDRUNTIN(US) ARCHIEP(ISCOPU)S IUSSIT HOC OP(US) FIERI P(ER) MANUS PANTALEONIS P(RES)B(YTE)RI
- Below the banners, on the left, men are climbing a tall, checkerboard construction, 'La Torre di Babele'; this is the corruption of Man. On the right side, 'I Falsi Profeti', two- and three-headed beasts with human hands and faces, fill the landscape.
- The area near the entrance depicts, as previously described, chimera and "ALEXANDER". After seeing so many beasts with multiple heads, it's amusing to see a lion with one head and four bodies.
From the southeast (Epistle) aisle, we get a better look at the area above the 'I Mesi'. "CAYN" and "ABEL" makes their offerings, and one brother kills the other. "REX ARTURUS" is just on this side, riding in as a symbol of faith and sacrifice.
The 'tree' in this aisle (virtual tour) carries on the theme with chimera devouring leaves as well as each other. But at the top is "SAMUEL", the prophet who proclaims the line of Kings. The name above is more difficult to transcribe; it looks like "MARCUACIUS" and may refer to Malachias, another ancient prophet. At the top of this 'tree' is the 'Fanciullo', a boy carrying a kaleidoscopic circle.
On this side, the cappella laterale entombs and honors the 'Eroi'. The Cappella dei Santi Martiri (1680-90, rebuilt 1711, virtual tour) includes seven enormous glass panes which hold back the bones of the martyrs. The altar is built on top of the "Sasso del Martirio" (martyrs' stone) – the sign reads:
Sotto questo altare la pietra sulla quale i Santi Martiri posarono il loro capo per essere decapitati.
"Le Quattro Colonne Istoriate del 1524" stand by the landing that leads down to La Cripta (virtual tour), a brightly lit and beautiful field of mixed columns and capitals. The architecture is lovely, but the artwork is sparse, the fault of the Ottomans, who converted this old church into a mosque.
The scraps of pigment still tell a story because of what survives. There are several images of the "Madonna", and the "Madonna con Gesù Bambino". Along the back (southwestern) walla sequence of portraits of San Francesco (receiving and with the stigmate) flank the "Il Presepe". These are the images that the Ottomans did not fully erase when converting the church to a mosque.
Doubling back to the east, the Chiesa di San Pietro (9th-10th centuries, virtual tour), an intimate, central plan church, also carries this fractured sensibility. The colors and compositions are there, but the edges and detail are gone. Some subjects are nearly unrecognizable, though we can identify the "Annunciazione" over the altar.
In the left hand (Evangelst) chapel, we see San Nicola (three balls of gold) with the Madonna con Bambino, and Santa Lucia (eyes in chalice) on the fascia of the column capital. In the vault, which is less spoiled, we can make out the "La Lavanda dei Piedi" on the left and "L'Ultima Cena" on the right. In the right hand (Epistle) chapel, is the "Madonna del Latte".
We return to Lecce for dinner. It's or first chance to walk into the Piazza Sant'Oronzo and look at the Anfiteatro Romano (1st-2nd centuries).
The day's art tour is one of the best so far: the walls of Santo Stefano, the vaults and altars of Santa Caterina, and the Cattedrale floor in Otranto. Where the frescos are erased, we apply our experiences and our imaginations to fill in the blanks. Especially coming at the end of the day, we amplify the impact of churches like San Pietro and reap a premium for our patience and attention on the tour.
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