LIBERTY SQUARE
Designed in 1861 by architect Ferdinando
Ayroldi, the square was realized in 1870 by Mayor Gaetano
Tanzarella-Vitale who ordered the pulling down of ancient
buildings like the clock-tower, the All-Saints Church, the Jail
and the hospital, which distinguished the medieval square
formerly named Saint Fancis Square after the closter and the
nearby church.Between 1820 and 1840 even the ancient Bridge
Portal was demolished to make room for the Consular Main Road
connecting Lecce to Naples. The paving level was elevated, so
the entire Seat Tower as well as part of the lower part of the
Saint Oronzo were thereby buried under the new ground level,
while the passage to the Carmelitan closter, North of the
square, was secured by two stairways at the sides of a garden,
the parterre, designed and realized in 1870. Nowadays’ Piazza
della Libertà presents multi-level elegant blocks dominated by
the Saint Oronzo’s central spire. The overall impression is
harmonic and agreeable.