Lecce, owes its distinctive charm to the richly decorated Baroque architecture of its churches and houses, which skilfully exploits the properties of local building stone. This pietra leccese, a sandstone of warm golden hue, is easy to work when first quarried, but hardens with the passage of time to form a surface which stands up remarkably well to erosion. The Barocco Leccese's style, flourished from the 16C-18C and was applied both to monumental and to private architecture, so that even the most unassuming buildings sometimes have carved window frames, sculptured balconies, and elaborate portals. Gabriele Riccardi and Francesco Antomio Zimbalo were most firmly rooted in Renaissance classicism, but Giuseppe Zimbalo (Lo Zingarello) was the most extravagant exponent, whereas Achille Carducci and Giuseppe Cino developed an elegant and (relatively) restrained architectural idiom. Cesare Penna produced much refined sculpture. However, it is perhaps misleading to concentrate on a few 'masters', since in a profound sense this became a popular style, an essential part of the repertory of local artisans. The Barocco Leccese remained more a decorative phenomenon than an architectural one, for it never really broke away from the spatial models of 16C Rome. Instead, it affirmed itself in the embellishment of traditional architectural and ingenious sculptural designs.
The Salentine peninsula is devoted to the cultivation of vines and olives, and it has also an important tobacco-growing districts: megalithic remains (dolmen, menhir, etc.) are widespread, though unfortunately somewhat difficult to find; and traces of the Messapian period are visible in cyclopean walls.