Lucca Italy

 27 June 2024 - Lucca Italy

Recommended by Amy’s parents, Silvio and Rosemarie, we stayed for two lovely and peaceful days in Lucca at a modern hotel with ancient roots.  The building our room was in was built into the Lucca’s walls dating which date back to 1200. The city walls, which have existed in some form since before Roman times, were rebuilt in the 1500s and are considered some of the best preserved Renaissance fortifications in Europe.  Nowadays, the wide and tree lined top makes for a very pleasant stroll around the old section of the city. The weather was perfect the day we walked it with nice breezes and puffy clouds. The city center is very well preserved (no modern buildings here) and is very pleasant to walk since there are very few cars on the narrow streets. We explored a few of the many churches. We ate at what used to be a Roman amphitheater. We sampled some of the local desserts and, of course, enjoyed them immensely. Russ toured Puccini’s home where he was born. We finished our visit with a very enjoyable concert of Verdi and Puccini pieces at the Church of Saints Giovanni and Reparata. Interesting coincidence - this was the same church where Chris sang when he traveled with the Poly High School choir in 2004. The only wrinkle was in leaving the town - some of the gates into the walled section had been closed down for traffic control purposes (concert that night in the city center) and our driver ended going in circles a few times before figuring out how to exit the city.  We all cheered when we exited through the remaining open gate. We had a long drive back to Florence and the train station for our next adventure - Venice.

Walking back to the hotel after dinner on the day we arrived.  An auspicious start to our stay!

The drive out to Lucca passed through industrial and farm country.  Tuscany is heavily wooded and the area around Lucca is pretty hilly.

One of the several gates on the ancient city wall.

One of the gates in an older version of the city walls.  Our hotel shared some of the gate’s foundations on the other side. Several times, we were treated to violin music as we passed through - a fellow was taking advantage of the great acoustics and playing classic tunes.

The first night we walked to Piazza Anfiteatro, built on what was an ancient Roman amphitheater and is now an elliptical structure of shops and restaurants.  We were wondering where everyone was - the streets were very quiet, until we got to the piazza.  The inside was circled with several outdoor restaurants and they were all very busy.  It was a very fun family feeling - children running around in the center of the grounds, while parents and grandparents kept an eye on them. Russ has discovered that the Diavolo pizza is the closest he can get to pepperoni, so he is happy.

You can see some of the old Roman amphitheater arches on the outside of the Piazza Anfiteatro.

The rain clouds were gone the next day, so we decided to walk the city walls.  The moats are all gone (at least they looked like moats to me).  At the end of the street of our hotel there is a ramp up to the top.  Easy peasy.

Beautiful views of the mountains surrounding Lucca.  It was a glorious day, pleasant temps and a nice breeze.

Lucca is known for having lots of churches.  The city wall walk gives good views of them.

Lots of families and couples out for a walk.

Some of the surrounding areas have been converted into parks and gardens.  In some places, old gate buildings on the wall have been converted to museums and you can learn a bit about the history of Lucca and the walls.

Overlooking an abandoned Renaissance building.

The dome belongs to Lucca’s Duomo which we visited the next day.

There are occasional “off ramps” from the wall that are ramps, rather than stairs. The roads in this picture led to the Piazza Napoleons, a large public area.  

We’ve seen several nice carousels in Italy. This one was beautifully done.

Pinocchio is very popular.  

They even had a Pony Express horse!

Vittorio Emanuele is everywhere! It makes sense, he was the first king of an united Italy since the 6th century.

We saw a couple of very large stages set up for concerts.  This one is in front of the Ducal Palace, former home of a sister of Napoleon Bonaparte and then the government center for Lucca until the unification of Italy. The place was closed for tours because of preparations for the upcoming concerts.  Some big names were scheduled, including Eric Clapton, Ed Sheeran, Diana Krall, Toto, and Duran Duran. I think I am glad we won’t be here when they start - I can’t imagine where people will park. It will have to be outside the city walls, so they will be in for a long walk.

An example of the streets inside the city walls. Very well kept medieval and renaissance buildings.

Russ made me an Aperol spritz one evening at the hotel. After some difficulties in figuring out how to use the seltzer bottle, I had a delicious drink.

We have seen some really nice children’s toy stores.  Lots of cool things!

This tower with trees growing on top is the Guinigi Tower.  This is an example of the family towers that were popular in the medieval times.  Wealthy families would build them as status symbols and so they would have a place to hide from invading groups.  The insides weren’t generally very large and, back in the day, you had to climb up a ladder to reach the entrance.  Then you pulled up the ladder and hunkered down until the bad guys left. Nowadays, if you are so inclined, you can climb the 233 steps to the top.

Church of San Michele in Foro is built over an ancient Roman forum.

First established around 800 AD, it was rebuilt around 1100 AD. It looks like a beautiful wedding cake.

The church is dedicated to Archangel Michel. Legend says that as long at St. Michael stays on top of the church, Lucca is safe.

The organ dates from 1887

The body below the altar is an Armenian pilgrim (now a saint) who died in Lucca in 1050 while on a pilgrimage along the Via Francigena (Lucca was an major stop on this very important medieval route.)

A statue of Puccini in front of the house where he was born. Now a museum, Russ visited the rooms. Puccini came from a long line of musicians (5 generations.)

An autographed orchestra score from his first work, composed while he lived in Lucca. He studied music in Lucca and then went to Milan to continue his studies.

An example of the staging used for one of his operas.

Puccini was quite the dresser, once he became successful. He lived in Milan for many years and had his clothes made by a tailor shop that made clothes for the Royal Family

A fresco inside the Church of Saints Giovanni and Reparata. This is now an archeological museum and concert venue. This is where we attended a concert of Verdi and Puccini pieces.

Most of the area under the floor of the church is an archeological dig.  Medal ramps and floors allow you to walk around under the church floor and view the dig.  This is a piece of a Roman bath.

Artifacts have been found back to the first century BC.

A Christian mosaic dating from the 5th century AD.

The Lombards were a Germanic civilization that occupied a large part of Italy in the medieval ages. This tomb dates from the 7th century.

The remains of an ancient kiln.

We enjoyed a nice dinner just before the concert.  Weather was perfect during our whole stay.

Duomo di San Martino, It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours and is the seat of the Archbishop of Lucca.  It was established in 1063. The third arch was shortened to accommodate the tower.

On the facade is a sculpture of Saint Martin and the beggar, around 1200 AD

More of these beautiful mosaic floors.

The ceiling of the nave.

A tapestry depicting the Holy Face of Lucca. 

The Altar of Liberty, created in the 1300s to celebrate Lucca’s freedom from Pisa.

The tomb of Ilaria del Carretto, wife of the Lord of Lucca in the 1400s.

This temple inside the church contains the Holy Face of Lucca, the most precious relic in Lucca.  The wooden crucifix is said to be carved by Nicodemus.