During our walking tour of Lecce on Tuesday morning 24^th May, we had a guided tour around the Basilica di Santa Croce. The Celestines built Santa Croce Church to house the relics of the True Cross, near the Castle of Lecce. The ancient church was demolished during the enlargement works of the Castle on request of Charles V during the mid sixteenth century. The present structure was built between 1549 and 1646 in the ancient area of San Martino, which during the medieval age housed the Giudecca after the Jewish expulsion from the Naples Reign in 1541.

The church has a richly decorated façade, with six smooth columns supporting an entablature, with animals, grotesque figures and vegetables, and has a large rose window. The main portal has a pair of Corinthian columns and the coats of arms of Philip III of Spain, Mary of Enghien and Walter VI of Brienne, while on the side portals are those of the Celestines. Several atlantes would represent the Turk prisoners made by the Christian League at the Battle of Lepanto (1571). The animals under the balustrade would symbolize the Christian powers which participated in the battle: the dragon was the symbol of the Boncompagni, family of Pope Gregory XVI; the griffon the Republic of Genoa, Hercules the Grand Duke of Tuscany and so on.

The interior, on the Latin cross plan, had originally a nave and four aisles, two of which were turned into side chapels in the 18th century. The church has seventeen altars: the main one has a decorated portal with the coat of arms of the Adorni family, whose tombs were inside the basilica. Notable is also that of St. Francis of Paola, a Baroque piece of art by Francesco Antonio Zimbalo. The nave has a rich wooden caisson ceiling. Paintings include a Tinity by Gianserio Strafella, St. Anthony of Padua by Oronzo Tiso and The Adoration of the Shepherd by Giovanni Battista Lama.