Giuseppe Zimbalo is the most famous and celebrated architect and sculptor of the ancient Terra d’Otranto. He was born in the capital of Salento in 1620, into a family of renowned sculptors.
In fact, the nickname “zimbarieddhu” in Italian means “little Zimbalo”, to distinguish him from his father. His grandfather, Francesco Zimbalo, had already built the three main doors of the church of Santa Croce in Lecce in 1606. For this reason, many specialists claim that the beauty of the Lecce Baroque is due to the talent of the Zimbalo family.
In 1659, Bishop Luigi Pappacoda called him to carry out the construction of the Cathedral of Lecce, which had already begun a year earlier. Subsequently, in 1666, the University entrusted him with the construction of a column in the center of the main square, on which the statue of Sant’Oronzo would later be erected. For this work, the remains of one of the terminal columns of the Roman Via Appia, in Brindisi, were used.
The pedestal of the column, however, is actually the work of Michele Massari in 1945, even if many mistakenly attribute it to Zimbalo.
In addition to the Cathedral and the Column, the so-called father of the Baroque assisted in the construction of the church of San Giovanni Battista or of the Rosary, the Basilica of Santa Croce together with Gabriele Riccardo, and the main door of the former Celestine convent.
Zimbalo can also be credited with the church of S. Anna, the completion of the façade of San Matteo and the church of the Dominicans, which was however completed after his death.
He also built the Cathedral of Gallipoli, the church of the Augustinians in Melpignano, the Annunziata in Galugnano, the Brindisi church of S. Teresa, the bell tower of the Collegiate Church in Maglie and the facade of the church of the Crucifix in Galatone.
Giuseppe Zimbalo died in 1710, giving Lecce and the world the baroque spirit that characterizes and enriches the entire architectural system of Salento.
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