The unique town of Lecce, often called the "Florence" of Southern Italy, is distinguished by the variety of archetectural styles, from Rococò to Baroque, from the Rennaissance and Medieval to Roman.
However, the absolute star of the show is Lecce's splendid baroque architecture. A stroll through the old town, along the numerous small winding streets, you are surrounded by the richly decorated façades who owe their special charm to the use of the local stone - "La Pietra Alata".
Many of the palatial buildings in Lecce were made using Salento stone, a material dating back to ancient times.
Scholars of the second half of the 19th century unanimously dated the stone to the Miocene era, between 23 to 17 million years ago. However, it is still being debated, as to the exact location of the different levels. Salento stone is made up of a series of calcareous rocks, from the family of the miocenic calcarenitics.
One of the characteristics of the stone is the presence of numerous fossil fragments, in particular, the planktonic and benthic marine species, some of which have been preserved in their entirety.
A petrographic test of Salento stone shows a granular composition ammalgamated into the caliche cement.
Salento stone, is in fact, a higly capable material, adaptable to different structures for every type of building need.
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