The sea streetcar

There was a time when Leccesi went to the sea, to the nearby marina of San Cataldo, by streetcar. One of the stops was right in Piazza Sant'Oronzo, in the shadow of the patron's column and just above the then-hidden Roman Amphitheater. The genesis of the innovative tramway, the longest electric system in public transport in the Mezzogiorno (an impressive 12.7 kilometers), was long and tribulated, but the first ride to the sea departed with pomp and circumstance at 10 a.m. on June 25, 1898. For its debut, reads the municipality's manifesto with the program of inaugural festivities for those days, a rich calendar of festivities was organized that included, on the Adriatic shore, "musical concerts, boat serenade, in costume, cuccagna at the sea, sack races." The tramway line departed from Piazza Sant'Oronzo, skirted the Art Nouveau canopy of the covered herb market, headed toward the municipal villa and continued on the sea route toward San Cataldo. Recounting its history and its albeit short life, just 35 years old, is the historical-photographic exhibition "Il streetcar del mare," set up in the spaces of the Railway Museum. The exhibition, already proposed in 1998 curated by Professor Carmelo Pasimeni of the University of Salento, offers the opportunity to learn about the city of that time but, also and above all, "a utopia that had become a reality," as it was defined during its presentation of the Turin Exposition a few months after its inauguration.

The exhibition, which is part of the Railway Museum's regular tour, can be visited every Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon and 5 to 8 p.m. Info: 335/6397167.