Via Lopez

Palazzo Lopez, adjacent to Via Lopez, overlooks Piazza Basilica and was the residence of a noble Spanish family between the 16th and 17th centuries. The street probably took its name from

Fr. Diego Lopez de Andrade (also known as Giovanni Lopez de Andrade), a friar of the Order of the Hermits of Saint Augustine, born in Azambuja, near Lisbon, in 1569.
He was appointed Archbishop of Otranto in 1623 during the pontificate of Pope Paul V. His episcopal consecration took place on 30 November 1623 and was officiated by Cardinal Giovanni Garzia Mellini, with the participation of co-consecrators Niceforo Melisseno Comneno, Bishop of Crotone, and Alessandro Bosco, Bishop of Gerace.

Lopez de Andrade, a leading orator of his time, learned in letters and admired for his integrity, generosity toward the poor, and pastoral care, died in the reputation of holiness on 22 August 1628 in Otranto. His appointment as archbishop reflected the policy of the Spanish Crown to place bishops of proven loyalty to the monarchy in strategically important territories, such as Terra d’Otranto within the Kingdom of Naples during the 16th and 17th centuries.

During his episcopate, Lopez de Andrade faced the challenges arising from the coexistence of Latin and Greek rites within the diocese. In 1624 he described a parish as “Greek and officiated in Greek, with an entirely Greek population,” highlighting the presence of Greek-speaking communities and their liturgical dynamics. Archbishop Francesco Maria De Aste, in his historical compendium of 1700, testified that “his body still rested intact in the Cathedral Basilica.”