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 once referred to as the “City of One Hundred Churches”. Today, the number has dwindled, yet the style, grace and beauty still impress. Opening to a relatively large piazza, the façade of San Frediano never fails to impress visitors with its glass, gold and precious stone inlaid mosaic. The Basilica was built during the 6thCentury and the current appearance of the church, very Romanesque in style, was completed in the 12th Century. Named for an Irish Bishop of Lucca (Fridianus), the interior of the church is striking in its austere simplicity. Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (1743 – 1805) the Italian classical era composer and cellist whose music retained a courtly and galante style while he matured somewhat apart from the major European musical centers, was born in Lucca, Italy, into a musical family.

2. 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

3. 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

5. Lucca
Piazza Anfiteatro
and the Basilica
di San Frediano

6. At the Lucca
Conference, in 56
BC, Julius
Caesar, Pompey,
and Crassus
reaffirmed their
political alliance
known as the
First Triumvirate
Lucca
Piazza Anfiteatro

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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)

13. 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
Piazza Anfiteatro

14. 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.

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

16. 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.

17. 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

18. Lucca
Piazza Napoleone

19. 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

21. 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

26. The Pretorio Palace
In 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

27. The Ducal Palace
At 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 Palace
Ammannati's loggia

28. The Ducal Palace
Ammannati's loggia

29. The Ducal Palace

30. The Ducal Palace

31. During the course of history, various
families have taken up residence
there, starting from Castruccio
Castracani at the beginning of the
1300s up to Maria Luisa di Borbone
in the first half of the 1800s

33. Mostra
Pompeo
Batoni
(1708
–1787),
Lucca,
Palazzo
Ducale
Ritratto
di
Richard
Milles,
Pompeo
Batoni
(1708
–1787)
San
Giovanni
Evangelista,
Pompeo
Batoni

34. Mostra
Pompeo
Batoni,
Lucca,
Palazzo
Ducale
Ritratto
di
Abbondio
Rezzonico,
Pompeo
Batoni
Ritratto
di
Sir
Charles
Watson,
Pompeo
Batoni

35. The Ducal Palace

36. The Ducal Palace

37. 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 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.

38. 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.

39. 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

40. Piazza Napoleone, Lucca
Statua Maria Luisa di Borbone

41. 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.

42. 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.

46. The Bernardini Palace

47. 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.

48. The Pfanner palace in Lucca

49. The Pfanner palace in Lucca

50. The Pfanner palace in Lucca

51. Torre Guinigi

52. 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.

53. The Guinigi Palace and Tower
Built 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.

54. Panorama di Lucca from Torre Guinigi

56. 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.

57. The Passeggiata delle Mura

62. 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.

64. Sound: Mina - Mi chiamano Mimì (la Bohème di Giacomo Puccini)
Text and pictures: Internet
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Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanu
2013