Lecce (/ˈlɛtʃeɪ/ Italian: [ˈlettʃe]) is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province of second-highest population in the region of Apulia, as well as one of that region's most important cities. It is the main city of the Salentine Peninsula, a sub-peninsula at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over 2,000 years old. Lecce is home to the University of Salento, founded in 1955 and enrolling more than 16,000 students as of 2017/18.