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Vidalumi

Italy

Brindisi (Lecce), Italy

Brindisi: End of the Appian Way and Gateway to Baroque Lecce

Brindisi is a ferry and naval port on the Adriatic in Apulia, the heel of the Italian boot, with a small old center beside its inner harbor. Many visitors also want baroque Lecce, a short train ride south, so decide before you go ashore whether to spend the day in one city or split it between both.

Good to know

What Cruise Travelers Should Know About Brindisi

Cruise ships berth in Brindisi's port, a large harbor shared with ferries, cargo ships and the navy, so ask your ship where it ties up and how passengers reach the town. Once you are in the center, the old town is compact.

  • From the railway station to the Roman column is a little over a kilometer, and most of the sights in the center can be seen in an afternoon on foot.
  • Military facilities surround Brindisi, so the areas north and south of the center are hard to reach on foot; for anything outside the center, a bus or a rental car is the better choice.
  • Italian police can stop you at any time for an identity check, so carry photo ID ashore.

Brindisi on Your Own

Brindisi's monuments sit close together around the old center and the inner harbor, so a morning on foot covers them. For one ride, the regional train to Lecce takes about half an hour.

  • The Roman column: At the top of the steps known as the Scalinata Virgiliana, one column 18.74 meters high still stands above the harbor. Its twin fell in 1528, and the original capital of the survivor is now kept in Palazzo Granafei-Nervegna.
  • Piazza Duomo: The cathedral, rebuilt after an earthquake in 1743, stands beside the provincial archaeological museum.
  • The Swabian castle: Frederick II built it around 1227 at the edge of the old center, where part of it overlooks the inner harbor; it is still used by the navy.
  • Lecce by train: Regional trains run from Brindisi to Lecce, and Lecce station is about a kilometer from the city center.
  • Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own, and Italian transport strikes are sometimes called at short notice.

Getting Around Brindisi and Puglia

The train is the simple way from Brindisi to Lecce, and Lecce's old town is a limited-traffic zone that is explored on foot. Brindisi's own center is walkable, and buses or a taxi cover the rest.

  • Regional trains between Brindisi and Lecce take about half an hour, and the faster long-distance trains about 15 minutes.
  • If you buy a bus or train ticket at a kiosk or machine, validate it before you travel, because inspectors give on-the-spot fines for unvalidated tickets.
  • Brindisi Centrale station is on Piazza Francesco Crispi, at the end of Corso Umberto I.
  • Use only licensed taxis, from a rank, by phone or through an app.
  • By car, Lecce is about half an hour from Brindisi.

What to Eat in Brindisi and Puglia

The food of Apulia is built on pasta, vegetables and seafood. In Brindisi, look for orecchiette with turnip greens and spaghetti with clams; in Lecce, have a pasticciotto.

  • Orecchiette con cime di rapa: Orecchiette pasta is served with cime di rapa, or turnip greens.
  • Spaghetti alle vongole: Spaghetti with clams is another Apulian staple on restaurant menus.
  • Pasticciotto leccese: Lecce's own pastry is shortcrust filled with custard, and by tradition it is eaten warm at breakfast.
  • Where you eat: In some Italian cities you can be fined for eating or drinking next to major churches, monuments and public buildings.

Tipping in Italy

Italy has no strong tipping custom. Most restaurants outside Rome add a cover charge, the coperto, so waiters do not expect a tip, though they will not refuse one.

  • A large tip is never expected in a restaurant.
  • Leaving the change is quite common with taxi drivers, and hotel porters may expect a little something.
  • Italy uses the euro.

Baroque Lecce and Old Brindisi

Lecce's churches and palaces are carved from Lecce stone, a local limestone, and from 1630 the city filled with baroque monuments; it is often called the Florence of the South. Brindisi's own churches are older, several of them Romanesque.

  • Basilica di Santa Croce: Built between 1549 and 1695, it is the main example of Lecce baroque, its facade carved with animals, monsters and human figures.
  • Lecce Cathedral: Most of it was designed by Giuseppe Zimbalo and completed in 1689, with its bell tower standing apart on Piazza del Duomo.
  • The amphitheater: Lecce's Roman amphitheater, built in the 2nd century AD to seat more than 25,000 people, lies in Piazza Sant'Oronzo.
  • Two columns, two cities: The statue of Lecce's patron saint, Oronzo, raised in 1666, stands on a column rebuilt from pieces of Brindisi's fallen Roman column.
  • San Giovanni al Sepolcro: This round Romanesque church in Brindisi was built by the Normans in the 11th century, with marble lions supporting the columns of its portal.

Rome's Southern Gateway and the Norman Kingdom of Sicily

Brindisi's harbor has shaped its story: it made the town Rome's port for Greece and the East, a base for crusaders, and in 1943 the temporary seat of Italy's government.

  • 16th century BC: A Bronze Age village of huts stood on the Punta peninsula in the outer harbor.
  • 267 BC: Rome conquered the town and named it Brundisium.
  • 19 BC: The poet Virgil died here on September 21, after a voyage to Greece.
  • 1070: The Normans took Brindisi.
  • 1225 and after: Emperor Frederick II married Isabella II of Jerusalem here in 1225, built the castle, and sailed from Brindisi on the Sixth Crusade.
  • 1528: One of the two Roman columns above the harbor collapsed; in 1666 its pieces became the column for Saint Oronzo's statue in Lecce.
  • 1775: Reopening the Pigonati channel into the inner harbor revived the port's trade with the East.
  • 1869 onward: The opening of the Suez Canal brought new traffic, including the route known as the Valigia delle Indie, the India Mail.
  • September 1943 to February 1944: Brindisi served as the provisional seat of the government of the Kingdom of Italy.
  • 1992: A diver found fragments of ancient bronze statues on the seabed off Punta del Serrone, north of the harbor mouth.
  • To learn more ashore: The Museo Archeologico Provinciale Francesco Ribezzo, on Piazza Duomo, displays the Punta del Serrone bronzes, Roman inscriptions and Attic vases; you enter through the medieval portico known as the Portico dei Templari.

Brindisi and Lecce with Children and Families

Brindisi is compact enough for a family walk, and Lecce adds a Roman amphitheater in the middle of its main square. Pick one city for the day with younger children.

  • Younger children: In Lecce, start in Piazza Sant'Oronzo, the square that holds both the Roman amphitheater and the column with the saint's statue.
  • School age: In Brindisi's archaeological museum, look for the bronze statue fragments a diver found on the seabed in 1992.
  • Teenagers: Brindisi's Monument to the Sailor, a 53-meter tower in the shape of a ship's rudder, honors the Italian sailors who died in the First World War, and a spiral staircase climbs to the top. Check opening times before you go.

Accessibility in Brindisi and Lecce

Two museums have step-free access to their upper floors. Ask your ship about step-free transfers from the berth, and check station access before you rely on the train to Lecce.

  • In Brindisi, Palazzo Granafei-Nervegna has exhibitions on its upper floor, reached by elevator.
  • In Lecce, the Sigismondo Castromediano archaeological museum on Viale Gallipoli is on two floors and accessible to visitors with reduced mobility.

Shopping in Brindisi and Lecce

Lecce is the place to look for papier-mâché, a craft special to Apulia: most of the statues in its churches are made of it. Brindisi's center has clothing and specialty shops for everyday buys.

  • Papier-mâché museum: In the basement of Lecce's Castle of Charles V, a small museum devoted to the craft is seen on short guided tours.
  • Shop hours: Outside the summer season, many shops close for a few hours in the early afternoon.
  • Street sellers: Buying from unlicensed street traders is illegal in Italy, and buyers can be fined.
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