* Venues

The former Convitto Palmieri is a majestic neoclassical building in the heart of Lecce, in Piazzetta Carducci, a renowned meeting place for young people.
The building was originally – in the 14th century – composed of the church of S. Francesco della Scarpa and the adjoining convent. In 1800, the latter was used as a barracks, depot, and cavalry hospital, before becoming, in 1816, the site of the “Collegio-Convitto di S. Giuseppe”, the only high school in the Province of Terra d’Otranto. Since then, it has always been a prestigious educational facility (since 1860 it has been named after Giuseppe Palmieri), the fulcrum of education for generations of young people in Lecce. 

Today’s configuration is the result of demolitions, reconstructions and additions carried out during the 19th century.
It is currently one of the city’s most important cultural venues, managed by the Lecce Biblio-museum Pole. 

Classiche Forme 2025 will stop here for two Conversazioni on 14th and 16th July ,in one of its internal cloisters, the most precious. 

The church’s name refers to the 16th-century split between the Conventual Franciscans and the Observant Franciscans, the latter of whom did not wear shoes. It was built in the 12th century on land owned by the Guarini family and renovated between 1699 and 1714.

The lack of a richly decorated exterior, unlike most churches in Lecce, has earned it the nickname “the church without a façade.” It is said that in 1222, Saint Francis, on his way to the Holy Land, stopped here and left one of his sandals as a gift. Currently, the abandoned church serves as an exhibition space and auditorium.

The Academy of Fine Arts of Lecce, founded in 1960, is housed in the former Dominican convent of San Giovanni da Aymo, adjacent to the Church of San Giovanni Battista, near Porta Rudiae, one of the entrances to the city’s historic center.

The 18th-century cloister within is enclosed on one side by the church, on the other by three large rooms corresponding to the façade, which has housed the Academy’s art gallery since 1997, and on the last two by the 16th-century walls designed by Giangiacomo dell’Acaya, which feature a beautiful hanging garden.

The Le Costantine Foundation covers more than 33 hectares in the countryside of Uggiano la Chiesa, a stone’s throw from the center of Casamassella, close to the Idro Valley. The blue sea of Otranto frames an enchanting backdrop of woods and Mediterranean scrub.

Before the eyes parade olive groves, meadows, fragrant broom and myrtle bushes, locust trees, holm oaks, pines and many botanical rarities, such as the Vallonea oak and small wild orchids.

Among the various riches guarded by Le Costantine is first and foremost the art of embroidery and weaving. First a tool to promote women’s autonomy and emancipation, today great excellence, recognized in Italy and around the world.

The craftswomen who work there produce textile artifacts of the highest quality by weaving natural fibers with ancient wooden looms with four healds. They use techniques dating back hundreds of years and perform every finish strictly by hand.

Masseria Le Stanzie in Supersano is one of the oldest ‘masseria’ in Salento, now known for the characteristic “te pendula” tomatoes (hanging tomatoes)  that dye many of its porticos red.

Its ideal location in the heart of Salento has made it, over the centuries, an ideal place for pilgrims and wayfarers to stop and rest (the name itself evokes its role as an ancient stazio). 

Today it is much more than an agritourism, it is a true place of worship of the rural civilization and its ancient traditions. It has orchards, olive groves, vineyards, vegetable garden with seasonal vegetable production, and cattle and sheep farms. 

The structure is divided between large and small rooms, courtyards, pergolas, farmyards, granaries, stone ovens and wonderful underground oil mills.

Palazzo Bacile di Castiglione stands in the heart of Spongano, a small town in southern Salento. The residence tells a story that spans centuries and remains vividly alive, still inhabited by the family whose name it bears. Built in the 16th century on the foundations of a medieval fortress, it retains the austere solidity of the ancient castle, gradually softened by refined Baroque additions, such as the sumptuous 18th century portal that embellishes the façade. Inside, noble 19th century rooms with cross vaults and pavilion vaults were commissioned by the baron to accommodate his fourteen children. Outside, expansive green areas frame the estate. Yet it is in the underground spaces that the palace truly reveals its most unexpected dimension: they house a rock carved underground olive oil mill, complete with millstones, vats, and work areas once dedicated to olive oil production, for centuries the heart of Salento’s economy. Today this intimate and evocative setting has found new life as a small theatre. It was within these ancient stone walls, where olives were once pressed, that Classiche Forme was founded in 2017. Palazzo Bacile hosted the first three editions of the festival.

Palazzo Maresgallo is a historic residence, a 16th-century architectural jewel, located in the heart of Lecce’s historic center. 

After a skillful and meticulous conservative restoration, it now shines in a new light, between old-world charm and contemporary comfort.

Its Rooftop overlooks the city and offers enchanting views.

Palazzo Tamborino Cezzi is an aristocratic residence in the historic centre of Lecce. It has struck, among others, director Ferzan Ozpetek who decided to set the film ‘Mine vaganti’ here in 2009.

The structure dates back to the 16th century, of which it still preserves part of the distinctly Renaissance rooms on the ground floor. Since the second half of the 19th century, it has belonged to the Tamborino family, to whom we owe the structural and artistic interventions that give it its current appearance; the Cezzi family, the current owners, are descendants in the maternal line. The 19th-century reworking of the house expresses neoclassical taste combined with elegant eclecticism, as well as Moorish and Oriental memories. The cloister that hosts the concert somehow sums up its entire history.

Belloluogo Park is an equipped green area not far from the center of Lecce. It takes its name from the precious 14th-century Belloluogo Tower located in the northern part of the park, in front of which the ancient moat is still visible: with its circular body, the tower represents one of the rare surviving testimonies of the Salento Middle Ages. It was the historic residence of Queen Marie D’Enghien, who spent the last moments of her life here. 

It is precisely in the area around the famous Belloluogo Park Tower that in July 2022, by concession of the Municipality of Lecce, which owns it, the Oasi Classiche Forme was born, a place where it was imagined that the culture of the Festival could grow. 

Artistic director Beatrice Rana and the Opera Prima association, which organizes the Festival, have pledged to donate and plant a handful of trees each year for the benefit of the Classiche Forme Oasis, the care of which they will look after over time.