Santuario della Pazienza in Puglia crumbles, urgent restoration needed

The Santuario della Pazienza, an outdoor art environment created by outsider artist Ezechiele Leandro in San Cesario di Lecce, is rapidly deteriorating and requires urgent restoration. Leandro, who called himself "Unico primitivo," built the sanctuary from the 1950s onward using cement, scrap metal, and discarded materials, populating it with hundreds of sculptures and murals. Despite being declared a protected cultural asset by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage in 2014, the site has suffered from vandalism and weather damage. Leandro died in 1981, leaving thousands of movable works. The sanctuary is considered one of Italy's most significant outsider art environments. A 2020 exhibition titled "Leandro unico primitivo" was curated by Antonella Di Marzo, Brizia Minerva, Tina Piccolo, and Lorenzo Madaro, with support from local authorities. The site is included in Gabriele Mina's mapping of "costruttori di Babele" (builders of Babel). Leandro's heirs still live in the house, but the sculptures and murals are crumbling. An appeal has been launched for immediate conservation intervention.