Lecce ( LETCH-ay, Italian: [ˈlettʃe] ) is a city and comune (municipality) in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, and the capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula. With a population of 94,387, it is also the largest city in the province.
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Grecìa Salentina is an area in the peninsula of Salento in southern Italy, near the town of Lecce which is inhabited by the Griko people, an ethnic Greek minority in southern Italy who speak Griko, a variant of Greek.
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Lecce Cathedral is the cathedral of the city of Lecce in Apulia, Italy, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Lecce.
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The Accademia di Belle Arti di Lecce is an academy of fine arts located in Lecce, Italy. It was founded in 1960.
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The Archdiocese of Lecce is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Apulia, southern Italy. The diocese has existed since the 11th century. On 28 September 1960, in the bull Cum a nobis, Pope John XXIII separated the diocese of Lecce from the ecclesiastical province of Otranto and made it directly subject to the Holy See. In the bull Conferentia Episcopalis Apuliae issued on 20 October 1980, Pope John Paul II created the ecclesiastical province of Lecce, with the Archdiocese of Otranto becoming a suffragan diocese.
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The province of Lecce is a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lecce. The province is called the "Heel of Italy". Located on the Salento peninsula, it is the second most-populous province in Apulia and the 21st most-populous province in Italy.
The province occupies an area of 2,799.07 square kilometres and has a total population of 802,807. There are 97 comuni in the province. It is surrounded by the provinces Taranto and Brindisi in the northwest, the Ionian Sea in the west, and the Adriatic Sea in the east. This location has established it as a popular tourist destination. It has been ruled by the Romans, Byzantine Greeks, Carolingians, Lombards, and Normans. The important towns are Lecce, Gallipoli, Nardò, Maglie, and Otranto. Its important agricultural products are wheat and corn. Lecce stone extracted from the province has been used to decorate several historical monuments and is widely used for interior decoration.
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Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is nicknamed "The Florence of the South". "Lecce stone", a particular kind of limestone, is one of the main exports of the city. It is very soft and workable, thus suitable for sculptures. As well as being an industrial centre specializing in ceramics, Lecce is also an important agricultural centre, chiefly for its olive oil and wine production. Lecce is home to the University of Salento.