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Lucca  is a city and comune in Tuscany, Central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca. Among other reasons, it is famous for its intact Renaissance-era city walls

Lucca was founded by the Etruscans (there are traces of a pre-existing Ligurian settlement) and became a Roman colony in 180 BC. The rectangular grid of its historical centre preserves the Roman street plan, and the Piazza San Michele occupies the site of the ancient forum. Traces of the amphitheatre can still be seen in the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro.

Piazza Anfiteatro

LuccaPiazza Anfiteatro and the Basilica di San Frediano

At the Lucca Conference, in 56

BC, Julius Caesar, Pompey,

and Crassus reaffirmed their political alliance known as the

First Triumvirate.

Lucca Piazza Anfiteatro

Frediano, an Irish monk, was bishop of Lucca in the early 6th century. At one point, Lucca was plundered by Odoacer, the first Germanic King of Italy.

Lucca Piazza Anfiteatro

Lucca was an important city and fortress even in the 6th century, when Narses besieged it for several months in 553. Under the Lombards, it was the seat of a duke who minted his own coins.

Lucca Piazza Anfiteatro

Piazza Anfiteatro

During the 8th - 10th centuries it was a center of Jewish life, led by the Kalonymos family (who at some point during this period migrated to Germany and became a major component of proto-Ashkenazic Jewry).

Lucca Piazza Anfiteatro

The Holy Face of Lucca (or Volto Santo), a major relic supposedly carved by Nicodemus, arrived in 742

The Holy Face of Lucca (Volto Santo di Lucca) is a venerated wooden corpus of a crucifix, located in the cathedral of San Martino

The Holy Face (Volto Santo)

Lucca became prosperous through the silk trade that began in the 11th century, and came to rival the silks of Byzantium. During the 10–11th centuries Lucca was the capital of the feudal margraviate of Tuscany, more or less independent but owing nominal allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor.

Lucca's archetypical medieval Piazza dell'Anfiteatro central piazza on the site of the original Roman amphitheatre

Dante’s Divine Comedy includes many references to the great feudal families who had huge

jurisdictions with administrative and judicial rights. Dante spent some of his exile in Lucca.

Lucca Piazza Anfiteatro

Lucca had been the second largest Italian city state (after Venice) with a republican constitution ("comune") to remain independent over the centuries.In 1805, Lucca was conquered by Napoleon, who installed his sister Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi as "Queen of Etruria".After 1815 it became a Bourbon-Parma duchy. The only duke of Lucca was Charles II, Duke of Parma, though between 1815 and 1824 his mother, Maria Luisa of Spain, was a regent. After his death, in 1847, Lucca lost independence and became part of Tuscany and finally part of the Italian State.

Lucca Piazza Napoleone

PIAZZA CITTADELLA is the site of the monument dedicated to the noted composer Giacomo Puccini, as well as the house in which he was born.

Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (1858 –1924), generally known as Giacomo Puccini has been called "the greatest composer of Italian opera after Verdi".

Lucca Piazza Cittadella

The Pretorio PalaceIn 1492 the Republic of Lucca organized the construction of the City council and its offices. The task was assigned to the architect Matteo Civitali - who was to start the work, finished by his sons after his death. At present the building is occupied by Magistrate's court - maintaining intact all its Renaissance lines, and presenting itself as a typical public palace of the fourteenth century

The Ducal PalaceAt present the palace is the council hall of the region council. Through the centuries various royal families used it as their residence - from Castruccio Castracani at the beginning of the 1300 century, to Maria Luisa di Borbone - in the first half of the 1800 century.

The Ducal PalaceAmmannati's loggia

The Ducal PalaceAmmannati's loggia

The Ducal Palace

The Ducal Palace

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The Ducal Palace

The Ducal Palace

The Palazzo Ducale is the headquarters of the Provincial Government in Lucca and also houses the Institution and Centre FOR Popular Traditions and the Paolo Cresci Foundation for the History of Italian Emigration, the first of which was set up to preserve, safeguard and promote appreciation and understanding of folklore and traditions, and the second to do likewise for memories and documents relating to emigration. Also to be found in the Palazzo are the History Institute in Lucca, the Resistance Institute, the UNESCO Forum, the Lucchese Academy for Science, Literature and Art, the Institute for Calabrian Studies and the Risorgimento Museum.

Today’s visitor to the Piazza Napoleone, which is perhaps the most spectacular of the Baciocchi’s urban projects in Lucca, will not find a likeness of Napoleon, nor of his sister Élisa: the gaze that looks out over the large piazza is instead that of Marie Louise of Bourbon, who ruled the Duchy of Lucca from 1817 to 1824.As the rulers who preceded her, Marie Louise also dedicated herself to public works, first and foremost the renovation of the Ducal Palace and the adjacent piazza.

The project was entrusted to Lorenzo Nottolini, the Royal Court Architect, who, between 1817 and 1820, completely renovated the interior decoration of the building and replaced the statue of the Emperor in the middle of the piazza, which had been commissioned by Élisa just a few years earlier, with a monument portraying Marie Louise. The sculpture was made by Lorenzo Bartolini. The bas relief panels that decorated the base of the monument are kept in the National Museum of Palazzo Mansi

Piazza Napoleone, LuccaStatua Maria Luisa di Borbone

The Bernardini Family was one of the most powerful families of Lucca. In 1512 Matteo Civitali, an important architect of the day, built the Bernardini Palace located on the northside of the Piazza Bernardini in the heart of the city of Lucca. Originally located on the site of the new Bernardini Palace was the Madonna Church, where the Madonna's holy image was.

Some of the ruins of the church were used to build the new palace, including the window to the right of the main front door. But one stone of the window folded up toward the outside, as if it wanted to run away. This frightened the masons, and they refused to touch the stone anymore. The bent stone has remained, and after five centuries this stone can still be seen. This is the legend that explains the stone that did not want to be walled. 

The Bernardini Palace

The construction of Palazzo Pfanner dates back to 1660. It was the Moriconi family, members of the Lucca merchant nobility that commissioned its building.The Pfanner palace in Lucca is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular residences of the 16 century. Its exquisite garden up to today remains one of the rare baroque style examples in the region. At present the palace hosts the exhibition of the court costumes of Lucca of the 17 and 18 centuries.

The Pfanner palace in Lucca

The Pfanner palace in Lucca

The Pfanner palace in Lucca

Torre Guinigi

From the 13th century onwards the Guinigi family, who were rich merchants and a leading family of the town, concentrated their mansions between via Sant'Andrea and via Guinigi, which has preserved its medieval appearance practically intact.

At the base of the Torre Guinigi it is difficult to visualise its importance, climb to the top of its tree topped tower (230 steep steps) however, for stunning views of Lucca. The surrounding streets are narrow but characteristic and pleasant just to take in the atmosphere.

The Guinigi Palace and TowerBuilt around the end of the 1500, it is a typical palace in Roman-Gothic style. Thanks to its height - more than 40 meters - the tower offers the opportunity to admire the amazing panorama of the city of Lucca.

Panorama di Lucca from Torre Guinigi

The walls around the old town remained intact as the city expanded and modernized, unusual for cities in the region. As the walls lost their military importance, they became a pedestrian promenade which encircled the old town, although they were used for a number of years in the 20th century for racing cars. They are still fully intact today; each of the four principal sides is lined with a different tree species.

The Passeggiata delle Mura

Lucca’s biggest attraction is its 12m-high city walls, built snug around the old city in the 16th and 17th centuries, defended by 126 canons and crowned with a wide, silky-smooth footpath just made for a leafy Passeggiata della Mura. Be it strolling, cycling, running or rollerblading, this legendary 4km-long circular footpath above the city proffers shot after shot of local Lucchesi life.

Sound: Mina - Mi chiamano Mimì (la Bohème di Giacomo Puccini)

Text and pictures: Internet

Copyright: All the images belong to their authors

Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanu

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