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Abstract
Lecce is a city located in the southern part of the Apulia region (south Italy). Its subsoil is rich in the remains of superimposed ancient settlements from the Messapian period (7th–3rd century BC) to the Roman, Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. Lecce Cathedral is one of the most important buildings in the town. It was built in the 12th century and transformed in the 16th and 17th centuries. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys were carried out in the cathedral and its crypt with the aim to evidence both probably buried structures related to the known crypt and other features such as tombs. The GPR investigations allow us to locate many features under the floor of the church. Some of them are unknown and could belong to the previous building of the Romanesque period. Furthermore, most of the identified structures are related to tombs and underground rooms (ossuaries). Under the crypt floor, six tombs of the 19th and 20th centuries and other ancient structures were documented.
Highlights
Lecce Cathedral is located in the center of the city (Figure 1), on the southeastern corner of a square where other edifices are built, including the bell tower, the bishop’s residence, and the seminary [1,2,3]
The anomalies are clearly visible starting from a depth of 4.59 m: one of these is located at the western end of the nave where the bell tower of the previous church was constructed (Figure 14, A); another group of anomalies adjacent to each other and similar in the shape and orientation are in the central sector of the northern nave and probably concerning underground chambers (Figure 14, B)
Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys in the Baroque Cathedral of Lecce highlighted the presence of many anomalies relating to unknown structures under the floor of the church
Summary
Lecce Cathedral is located in the center of the city (Figure 1), on the southeastern corner of a square where other edifices are built, including the bell tower, the bishop’s residence, and the seminary [1,2,3]. After the demolition of the previous building in 1658, it was rebuilt once again in the Baroque style in 1659 by the architect Giuseppe Zimbalo (1620–1710) and by order of bishop Luigi Pappacoda (1639–1670). It was completed in 1670 and it has not gone undergone relevant changes to the present day. In the 13th century, the church had a Latin cross plan with three naves divided by columns (Figure 2); three apses were at the end wall of the transept, while chapels were along the external naves. The apses were extended and transformed into quadrangular-shaped spaces: a choir was built in the central space, behind the altar, while two chapels dedicated to Saint
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