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Beneath Lecce: Tombs, Cisterns and the Mysteries of Museo Faggiano

In Lecce’s historic centre, a simple home repair unexpectedly uncovered tombs, cisterns, silos and passageways carved into the rock. Step inside Museo Faggiano, a remarkable house museum where more than two thousand years of history still live on beneath visitors’ feet.

VIAGGI | TRAVELS

Rebecca P. & Raffaele F.

8/10/20264 min read

Museo Faggiano: The House That Hid a City Beneath Its Floors

In Lecce, you only need to look up to lose yourself among façades carved like lace into the stone, theatrical balconies and churches that seem to change colour with the light. At Museo Faggiano, however, the opposite is true: you need to look down. Behind the entrance of an ordinary house in the historic centre lies an intimate and surprising archaeological journey through underground chambers, wells, tombs, cisterns and walls dating from vastly different periods.

For anyone wondering what to see in Lecce beyond its Baroque architecture, this is a particularly rewarding stop. It is not a monumental, neatly arranged and predictable museum, but a discovery that came about entirely by chance inside a real family home, with all the irregularity of stories that were never meant to be uncovered.

It All Began with a Plumbing Problem

The story of Museo Faggiano in Lecce reads almost like the opening of a novel. In 2001, Luciano Faggiano decided to investigate the old sewer pipes that were causing persistent damp patches to appear on the walls of his home. In theory, it was nothing more than a routine repair. Shortly after digging began, however, unexpected archaeological remains started to emerge, and what had begun as a domestic building project gradually turned into an investigation into the city’s past.

The work continued until December 2007 and was carried out by the family under the supervision of the archaeological heritage authorities and with the guidance of architects Franco and Maria Antonietta De Paolis. The excavations revealed evidence of more than 2,500 years of overlapping civilisations, all concentrated within a remarkably small space. In April 2008, the building opened to the public.

The result is far more than a collection of archaeological finds: the house itself has become the museum, with a route spanning more than two thousand years of history, from the Messapian and Roman periods to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

A Journey into Underground Lecce

The route brings visitors close to a floor dating from the Messapian period, around the 5th century BC, marked by circular holes thought to have supported ancient huts. A little further on are medieval rooms, a grain storage silo, Messapian tombs dating from the 5th century BC, basins, cellars and several cisterns carved directly into the rock, some of which are still fully functional. One of them has an unusual bell-shaped profile and has been dated to between the 15th and 16th centuries.

The underground Lecce you can explore also contains more enigmatic details: a small child’s tomb, a communal burial site and a stretch of underground road believed to have connected the building with several key locations in the city. There is also a well around ten metres deep, from which it is possible to glimpse the waters of the Idume, the underground watercourse that flows beneath Lecce.

Research has also linked part of the building to a former convent, which closed sometime between the 16th and 17th centuries. Evidence of its presence may include devotional niches, the remains of an ossuary and the so-called “nuns’ pit”, where bodies were left to decompose according to the funerary practices of the period. There may even be traces of the Knights Templar, suggested by symbolic carvings in the stone that continue to inspire legends and unanswered questions.

Together, these discoveries add further chapters to the building’s long biography: family home, religious site, working space, burial ground, storage area and passageway.

Among the most unusual museums in Lecce, Museo Faggiano stands out precisely because of this extraordinary concentration of historical evidence. The rooms still retain the proportions and atmosphere of a private home, yet beneath the vaulted ceilings and behind the walls, the city reveals itself as a living, layered organism.

Plan Your Travel Experiences with GetYourGuide

The Faggiano Archaeological Museum is located at Via Ascanio Grandi 56, right in the heart of Lecce’s historic centre. Its central location makes it easy to include in a walk through the city, but it would be a mistake to think of it as merely a quick detour: it is one of those places that helps you understand the many layers of history beneath the Salento capital.

The official website and the Municipality of Lecce list daily opening hours from 9:30 am to 8:00 pm, Monday to Sunday, including public holidays, and recommend booking in advance for groups and school visits.

If you would like to combine your visit to the museum with a wider exploration of the historic centre, we recommend booking GetYourGuide’s Historic Centre Guided Tour. Accompanied by a guide, you can discover the main sights of the “Florence of the South” and include the museum directly in your itinerary, without having to organise each stop separately or pay additional costs for individual activities.

A city like Lecce deserves time, but it also rewards good planning. Alongside this tour, GetYourGuide offers guided visits, themed walks, excursions across Salento, experiences and other activities that can be booked in advance, with tickets and booking details stored conveniently on your phone.

Download the GetYourGuide mobile app, choose the experience that best suits your trip and enter the promotional code ZAINOINDUE5 at checkout to receive an immediate 5% discount not only on this activity, but on all eligible bookable experiences.

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