Visits to the URBAN WALLS

It is good to take a step back and admire them first from the outside, from the herb paths that give Lecce's imposing city walls a gentle, fragrant crown. Until a few years ago there was beaten earth and parked cars in their place. Today, after the extensive restoration work, the Mura Urbiche are one of Lecce's most fascinating attractions and for the entire Christmas period (from 8 December to 6 January) it is possible to visit them with a guide, four days a week, plus an extraordinary opening on Monday 26th.

The walls were erected out of the need for defence and were commissioned by the governor of Terra d'Otranto Ferrante Loffredo. It was the middle of the 16th century, a few decades earlier Otranto had fallen under the Turkish sabres. From here, ditches, ramparts, the four access gates, among which Porta San Martino is missing today, clearly give the idea of enclosure, of that stone girdle wanted by Charles V to protect his cities, of that continuous scanning towards the horizon in anticipation of the enemy.

The visit unravels along the walkways that once belonged to the soldiers on patrol and then down, under the great stone vaults, inside the bastion of San Francesco where, engraved in the stone, one can admire a tetragrammaton, the ancestor of the pentagram, which bears a fragment of Gregorian chant. A small and precious example of how Lecce stone, used here for fortifications, is docile by nature and, before becoming baroque, lent itself to fixing thoughts, reflections, prisoners' hopes for freedom.

The extraordinary openings of the complex are part of the 34th Fuso Association's 'Mura pop-up-Christmas wall experience'.

To promote sensory, cognitive and cultural accessibility, tours in English (on Saturdays at 4.30 p.m.) and four dates with a LIS translator accompanying the guide have also been scheduled within the proposed guided tour rounds. These initiatives are in addition to the tour of the tactile reproductions of Lecce's most important monuments, donated to the city by the Rotary Club of Lecce Sud, as part of the "Toccare per credere" project, which can be enjoyed on the first floor of the complex.

The wall complex can be accessed from the InfoPoint in Via Leonardo Leo.

Opening hours: 4.30 pm, 5.30 pm and 6.30 pm.

Admission: full price €5, reduced €2 for Lecce residents; free for under-17s and disabled persons with an accompanying person. Reductions available for families, organised groups (from 10 people) and school groups.