The Palazzo dei Celestini, for three centuries the seat of the convent of the Celestine fathers, is a Baroque monument in Lecce; the palace and the basilica of Santa Croce form a single complex.
What to see
The long front (1659-1695) was the work of two Lecce architects, Giuseppe Zimbalo and Giuseppe Cino, who built the first and second order respectively. The orders of the façade are divided vertically by pilasters; the front is enriched by two small loggias at the sides, by numerous windows decorated with elaborate frames and by a frieze ornamented with heraldic shields, and the entrance portal, at the centre, has a decoration of putti and bunches of fruit. Against the palace stood Porta San Martino, one of Lecce's four city gates, demolished in 1826 because its austere appearance looked unsightly beside the Palazzo dei Celestini. Today, according to the sources, the palace houses the offices of the Prefecture and the Province.
The monastery was established as early as 1352 by the count of Lecce and duke of Athens Walter VI of Brienne and was entrusted from the start to the Celestines; it stood where the castle is today. In 1549, at Charles V's wish to extend the walls and build a new fortress, the convent was demolished and the Celestines settled on the present site. The new complex was built from 1549 to a design by Gabriele Riccardi, to whom are due the original cloister and the portal of the basilica of Santa Croce; the major works were carried out in the seventeenth century. After the suppression of the orders, in 1807, the monastery became the Government palace.
Visiting
The palace is in Lecce, joined to the basilica of Santa Croce. As it houses public offices, access to the interior is not guaranteed and the sources consulted do not say how it can be visited: any hours or openings should be checked.
Our editors' tip
The Palazzo del Seminario, on piazza del Duomo, takes this palace as the model for its façade: once you have seen both, you grasp the model.
