Church of Saint Niccolò 'dei Greci'

It is a little further away than the most famous churches of Lecce but I liked this little church in Byzantine style and I highly recommend it !!

The church of San Niccolò dei Greci, known as the "Greek church, is located in the historic center of Lecce. It is the seat of the parish of San Nicola di Mira and inside there are functions of the Byzantine rite. It is small but very beautiful, like the rest of the neighborhood named after the church. I recommend a visit.

The church, of ancient origins, probably dates back to the Byzantine appropriations of southern Italy (9th century). Before the eighteenth century the Greek - Byzantine community met at a place of worship where the Church of Jesus currently stands, however, in fact it was evicted, to give priority to the new religious orders of the Counter-Reformation. After a few years of temporary accommodation, in 1765 the Albanian colony of Albanian merchants who resided in Lecce commissioned four new architects Francesco Palma, Lazzaro Marsione, Lazzaro Lombardo and Vincenzo Carrozzo, a new church dedicated to San Nicola di Mira. The four architects, however, being little experts in Orthodox liturgy, interpreted the client's requests in a somewhat creative way, especially inside. The façade, with simple and essential lines, which herald neo-classicism, is characterized in the lower order by four Doric pilasters. The second floor is dominated instead. with swollen piers lapped by the curl of the connecting volutes. To close the whole, a tympanum with a lunette. The interior is made up of a rectangular nave with a vaulted roof and the wall of the iconostasis is beautiful and valuable, studded with wood painting: the golden background panels of the Virgin and Child, of Christ the high priest, of St. John Battista, from San Nicola di Myra, the three small doors depicting "Noli me tangere" and the Archangels Michele and Gabriele. The wall is surmounted by a polychrome diadem of Byzantine-style tablets on which the Apostles and the life of Christ are represented. The triptych of the Deesis and the Crucifix are wonderful, with the icons of the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist. It should be noted that the saints also recognized by the Catholic liturgy reflect the realism typical of western painting, while the icons offer the typical two-dimensionality of sacred painting of the Byzantine tradition. The altar is located behind the iconostasis and, according to what the Byzantine liturgy prescribes, it has two lateral canteens and the prosthesis on the left and the diaconicon. Here are other tablets with the Trinity and the Virgin Enthroned. The decoration of the church is completed with Dead Christ and San Spiridione di Trimithonte, made in 1775 by the Corfiot parish priest Demetrio Bogdano

Greek Church of the Byzantine rite, with a guide or by appointment. It is a church structured differently by the Catholic Churches as the priest turns his back on the faithful. It presents various icons for those who are fond of these works.

Small but charming. Its Byzantine style gives it an oriental appearance. Although a little secluded it is worth visiting during an itinerary in the historic center of Lecce. Interesting to attend mass from the Greek rite.