Belloluogo park lies on the northern edge of Lecce, beside the city cemetery, where one of its entrances is. It takes its name from the tower that dominates the whole area — twin to the Torre dell'Arco on the southern edge of town. For a time that tower was the last home of Maria d'Enghien, queen of Naples and countess of Lecce, a woman who left a deep mark on the art and culture of the Salento. Around it are a moat once crossed by a drawbridge, an underground olive mill cut into the rock, a circular ground-floor room with perfect acoustics that was used by the troops, and, upstairs, the rooms where the queen lived withdrawn from the world. The jewel is the little chapel of the Magdalene, frescoed throughout, which recalls the paintings of Galatina and Soleto, other places dear to her. - by Tonio Rollo