Lessu City, or simply Lessu, was built into a massive rock spire in the middle of a rocky mesa. The city had multiple tiers elevated into the cliff face and outer walls that protected it. During the Clone Wars, the city could only be reached on foot by way of a plasma bridge that was installed by the occupying Confederacy of Independent Systems. The bridge remained up after the war and the rise of the Galactic Empire.
During the Clone Wars, the Separatist Droid Army, commanded by Wat Tambor, took control of Ryloth and took the Twi'leks prisoner. As Republic forces approached the capital, Tambor ordered the inhabitants of the city be driven outside the city walls to complicate a possible attack, knowing the Jedi would want to avoid civilian casualties. The Separatists installed a plasma bridge as the only way to get into the city, which they could turn on or shut down. The capital was later freed by the combined forces of freedom fighters and the Galactic Republic] guided by Jedi Master Mace Windu and rebel leader Cham Syndulla, with aerial support from Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano's fighter squadron.
Following the formation of the Galactic Empire, Senator Orn Free Taa, Vice Admiral Rampart, and the Syndullas were in Lessu. There, General Syndulla urged his people to surrender their weapons to the Imperial Army. Soon enough, however, Syndulla's doubts about the Empire and the regime's actions convinced him to lead a new resistance group, the Free Ryloth Movement.
During the Imperial occupation, the Twi'lek Isval traveled to the Octagon, a district in the heart of the city of Lessu. There, she encountered a Twi'lek escort named Ryiin and a drunken Imperial officer. After assaulting the Imperial officer, she spirited Ryiin away into a new home where she would be safe from slavery. Anti-Imperial seditionists like Beezer Fortuna were held captive in Lessu during the occupation. The Partisans launched a raid in Lessu at one point, during which they freed Fortuna.