Cappella Arditi

Near Piazza del Popolo in Presicce, the Arditi Chapel is a small eighteenth-century monument dated to 1767. Its Rococo decoration and warm Lecce stone distinguish it from the town's larger Baroque churches.

Why it matters

The chapel is associated with the Arditi family, whose history is closely linked to Presicce. The family's late-seventeenth-century palazzo was the birthplace of Michele Arditi, the jurist and archaeologist associated with the founding of Naples' National Archaeological Museum. The chapel offers a more intimate trace of the family's presence in the town.

What to notice

The chapel's small scale brings its carved stonework and Rococo ornament into focus. The warm tones of pietra leccese complement the lighter curves of the decoration, a distinct expression of the mid-eighteenth-century taste represented in Presicce.

Context and history

The 1767 chapel forms part of the Arditi family's architectural legacy in Presicce. In 1904, the confraternity of San Luigi Gonzaga began meeting in the chapel; it continued there until the confraternity built its own church in 1939.