His name is terrace suite. It takes pride of place in the restricted room list of 60 rooms in the Patria Palace Hotel, a five-star hotel from Lecce which this year presented itself to guests with a restyling that has embellished the interiors, calibrating more than ever the union between the memory of the Apulian tradition and a vision of the future. I am in the heart of the city, surrounded by Lecce stone, in front of the Basilica of Santa Croce, and it is from here that I set out to discover an unusual Lecce because it is out of season, returning to the hotel to enjoy exceptional dinners served in an environment marked by elegant furnishings and superb welcome. Here are five ideas to love Lecce even in winter.
To the Biscozzi-Rimbaud Foundation
The Patria Palace Hotel was, as I was saying, my starting point for an unusual weekend in Lecce: a weekend marked out, rather than the usual seaside stops, by short visits to towns within a seasonally adjusted urban route.
So after breakfast at the hotel – a good alternative is the Christmas pastry in via Trinchese, kingdom of the Pugliese pasticciotto – I walked towards Piazzetta Baglivi, overlooked by the Biscozzi-Rimbaud Foundationwhich takes its name from Louis Biscozzi – one of the most authoritative names in the tax and tax consultancy sector in Italy, as well as an art collector – and his wife Dominique Rimbaudfrom Provençal, who remained sole custodian of the Foundation after her husband’s death in 2018.
UP!, the city from above
Before one of the most adrenaline-pumping moments of this off-season tour, the climb the bell tower of the Cathedralstopped by for a cocktail from Just enough, at 17 via Paladini, a “quanta basta” large street bar: just 35 square meters in which the founders Diego Melorio and Andrea Carlucci have built a microcosm in which great classics and signatures are served, born from a quick and immediate mix for the customer. I bypassed the highlights – including the South American-inspired Quanto Basta Punch and Cartello cocktails – and asked for a lighter gin-based cocktail, which I sipped with sophisticated, delicious vegetable buns.
The walk to the Duomo was short, as was the climb to the third register of the structure, made possible since last May project UP!, which allowed the installation of an elevator shaft inside the ecclesiastical tower. On the (almost) top of the bell tower – with its 73 meters the tallest building in Lecce, the panoramic point is instead at 43 meters – you can enjoy a wonderful 360-degree view over the city and the Adriatic Sea up to the Albanian coast.
Phygital experience at Palazzo Vernazza
Palazzo Vernazza, one of the oldest noble palaces in Lecce, guardian of millenary ruins, has been hosting an unusual visit itinerary since June 2021, enriched by the use of technologies. The project – titled Visit Palazzo Vernazza. From 400 to 4.0 and developed also thanks to the staff of the University of Salento, who carried out the excavation campaign and the studies – it leads the visitor along a physical and digital path: tablet in hand I moved between the different rooms of the building accompanied by audiovisual narrations , 3D reconstructions and experiences in virtual and augmented reality.