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1) LE MURA / THE WALLS:
the current walls of Lucca, exactly 4 kilometers and 223 meters long, are the result of the last reconstruction campaign, which started in May 1544 and ended only a century later, in 1648.
The works also took place in the second half of the Seventeenth century, with structural updates based on new knowledge and construction techniques.
Never used for defensive purposes, the modern structure is divided into 12 curtains and 11 bulwarks.
These are seen as a strong sign of cultural identity and as a container for the historical memory of the territory.
2) PIAZZA ANFITEATRO / AMPHITHEATER SQUARE:
The square was born in the Middle Ages and in this era was called “parlascio”, a distortion of the Latin paralisium (“amphitheater”), which due to the influence of the word “speak”, was said to indicate the place where citizens’ meetings were held. It was progressively filled with buildings, variously used as a salt deposit, powder magazine, prison. To date, the level of the square, onto which numerous shops open, is raised by about 3 meters with respect to the Roman arena. Access to the square is possible through 4 vaulted doors, but only one of these, the lowest, exactly follows one of the original entrances. A curiosity to note is the cross engraved on a tile in the center of the square, at the point of intersection between the 4 gates.
3) CHIESA DI SAN MICHELE IN FORO / SAN MICHELE CHURCH:
At the center of the ancient forum of the Roman city, a church dedicated to Saint Michael, a typical saint venerated by the Lombards, was established in the eighth century. Its renovation began around 1070 and continued until the 14th century. The decorations of the now closed windows of the crypt, visible from the outside at the base of the apse, date back to the same period. The works for the new church, with three naves, with Corinthian and composite columns and capitals and apse, were already well advanced by the middle of the 12th century. Simultaneously with this phase of construction, the bell tower was raised (at least in the lower part), which was cut off by Giovanni dell’Agnello, captain of Pisa from 1364 to 1368, because the sound of its bells could be heard as far as Pisa and this was a sign of superiority over the Alphean city. Furthermore, during the medieval period, access to the church was only possible by crossing a wooden bridge, called the Ponte al Foro, which passed over the canal that crossed the square, the Fossa Natali.
4) CATTEDRALE DI SAN MARTINO / SAN MARTIN CATTEDRAL:
The cathedral of San Martino is the cathedral of Lucca, the mother church of the archdiocese of the same name. According to tradition, it was founded by San Frediano in the 6th century, then rebuilt by Anselmo da Baggio, bishop of the city, in 1060 and finally modified between the 12th and 14th centuries. There is no information on the primitive construction and an example of an episcopal complex has been thought of, consisting of a series of grouped churches, with functions. The baptistery, the church of Santi Giovanni e Reparata and probably the church that occupied the site of the cathedral overlooked the area of Piazza San Martino. It received the title of cathedral church in the eighth century, in place of the church of Santa Reparata with the end of the Lombard kingdom and the advent of the Holy Roman Empire, in close collaboration with the papacy. In a room near the sacristy is the funeral monument to Ilaria del Carretto, created by the sculptor Jacopo della Quercia between 1406 and 1408.
5) CHIESA DI SAN FREDIANO / SAN FREDIANO CHURCH:
The basilica of San Frediano is one of the oldest places of Catholic worship in Lucca, in Romanesque style, and is located in the homonymous square. On the evening of 13 September, the procession for the Santa Croce starts from this basilica. In November 1957, Pope Pius XII elevated it to the dignity of minor basilica. The construction of this first church dates back to San Frediano himself, an Irish presbyter who was elected bishop of Lucca between 560 and 588. In 1112 the rebuilding of the building began, thanks to Prior Rotone, and was consecrated in 1147 by Pope Eugene III. In the 12th century the church was lower than the one we see today; the raising of the central nave and the construction of the ceiling with wooden trusses dates to the 13th century and was concluded with the mosaic ornamentation of the upper part of the facade (13th-14th centuries).
6) TORRE GUINIGI / GUINIGI TOWER:
The Guinigi Tower is the most important tower of Lucca, as well as one of the few remaining within the city. The tower, built in stone and brick, is one of the most representative and famous monuments of Lucca; its main feature is the presence of some holm oaks on its top. It rises to 44.25 meters, distinguishing itself from all the buildings in the historic centre. Reaching the top is made possible by 25 flights of stairs – for a total of 241 steps – quite easy in the first part but not in the last, where you can continue climbing only thanks to small metal ramps. Hanging on the internal walls, it is possible to admire numerous paintings depicting scenes of medieval life. From the top you can admire the city center, Piazza Anfiteatro and the landscape of the surrounding mountains, the Apuane Alps to the north-west, the Apennines to the north-east and Mount Pisano to the south. On the top of the tower is the hanging garden, consisting of a walled box filled with earth, in which seven holm oak trees have been planted.
7) TORRE DELLE ORE / WATCH TOWER:
The Lucca clock tower with its approximately 50 meters in height, is the tallest of the 130 towers present in the city from the Middle Ages to today. The construction of the Tower dates back to the medieval period, around the thirteenth century. In 1390 the General Council of Lucca decided to have a “bonum clock, sufficient aptum et bene differentintes tempus per horas” made. After some consolidation works, Labruccio Cerlotti was entrusted with the construction of the mechanism to the most important Lucchese goldsmith of the time. Only in 1490 was an outer quadrant placed. In this way the hours would also have been visible as well as audible through the chimes. The Torre delle ore is linked to the legend of Lucida Mansi, the woman who sold her soul to the Devil to remain young and beautiful. However, the Devil would return after thirty years to demand payment of the debt. At the end of the thirty years Lucida Mansi, on the night of 14 August 1623 climbed the Tower, breathless she ran to stop the bell, which was about to strike the hour of her death. At midnight sharp the Devil would take his soul. However, from the legend it appears that Lucida did not reach the mechanism in time, she was unable to stop it and the Devil took her soul with a fiery chariot
8) PALAZZO PFANNER / PFANNER BUILDING:
The construction of Palazzo Pfanner dates back to 1660. The story of the Pfanner family was intertwined with the centuries-old history of the building in the mid-nineteenth century. It was in fact Felix Pfanner of a Bavarian family who progressively bought the entire structure after having installed his brewery there, starting in 1846, the first in the Duchy of Lucca and one of the first in Italy. During the years of activity of the brewery, the garden of the building became a meeting place for Lucchesi and personalities from all over the world, to taste beer and spend time in company. The historic Pfanner Brewery closed in 1929. The residence of Palazzo Pfanner, the only part of the building that can currently be visited, contains a large central hall frescoed in the 1720s by the quadraturist Pietro Paolo Scorsini. The garden is one of the best preserved examples of Italian-style baroque garden. Among the most spectacular elements, we mention the massive presence of eighteenth-century statues depicting the gods of Olympus and characters from Greek mythology. Due to its architecture and large garden it has been used by numerous directors as a set, fully embodying the imagery of the “palace of the papal nobility”. For example, it is the Marquis del Grillo’s palace in the film of the same name with Alberto Sordi (1981), the residence of the Sant’Agata family in Luigi Magni’s “The Bersaglieri Are Coming” and the garden in Portrait of a Lady with Nicole Kidman from 1996.
9) PALAZZO MANSI – MUSEO NAZIONALE / NATIONAL MUSEUM OF PALAZZO MANSI:
Palazzo Mansi is located in the center of the city of Lucca and dates back to the end of the sixteenth century. It was bought by the Mansi family in 1616 who carried out an internal restructuring in Baroque style in contrast with the austerity of the external features. The two wings perpendicular to the central nucleus date back to the 19th century, with the single flight staircase leading to the noble floor in a loggia overlooking the garden. The museum has been located in this luxurious building since 1965 when it became state property and was completely refurbished. In 1977 the section of the National Art Gallery was inaugurated. The original furnishings, frescoes and tapestries on the walls were subsequently recovered. Of particular note is the Wedding Room, with its original alcove and 18th century embroidered Lucchese silk fabrics. The Museum displays works from the 19th century and ancient tools and textile products of common life such as looms, models of period clothing, religious vestments, fabrics from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries and illustrates a cross-section of what the activity was of textile production in the Lucca area.
10) PALAZZO DUCALE:
Until the advent of the Castruccio Castracani lordship the seat of government of the Republic was located in Piazza San Michele. Castracani had the vast Augusta Fortress built, inside which he placed his residence, quarters for soldiers, ammunition depots, etc. Traditionally, the Augusta project is attributed to Giotto. The huge complex, which covered about a fifth of the city, was destroyed by popular acclaim in 1370, after Emperor Charles IV of Bohemia had given the Republic its freedom. With the new lordship of Paolo Guinigi, a fortress was again built around the Palace, called the Citadel of Lucca. In 1430, after the fall of Paolo Guinigi, the Citadel was also dismantled, but in this case too the restored republican government decided to continue to have its headquarters in the palace that once belonged to Castruccio. The Palazzo Pubblico, in the 15th and 16th centuries, grew without a precise design with the progressive addition of new buildings to the former Palazzo of Castracani and Guinigi. The structure housed the parliament and government rooms, the soldiers’ quarters, the armoury, the powder magazine, the prisons and all the service buildings (the standard-bearer and the government college lived in the palace and therefore needed servants, kitchens , stables, etc.). After the unification of Italy, the palace was also stripped of its vestments and then became the seat of the Prefecture, the Court of Appeal, the Court of Assizes and the province of Lucca.
11) CASA NATALE DI GIACOMO PUCCINI / GIACOMO PUCCINI MUSEUM:
The museum-birthplace occupies the premises of the apartment where the composer Giacomo Puccini was born on 22 December 1858. The Puccini family had settled there in 1815 and the maestro lived permanently in this house until 1880, when he moved to Milan to complete his studies. Puccini later had several residences, but always remained tied to his father’s house. The house was transformed into a museum in 1979 by the Giacomo Puccini Foundation, thanks to the donation of the property by Rita Dell’Anna. The museum houses original furnishings, precious objects that belonged to the musician Giacomo Puccini, including autographed scores of early compositions, many letters from and to Giacomo Puccini, paintings, photographs, sketches, relics and precious documents. Inside the museum is also the costume of Turandot. The Giacomo Puccini birthplace museum houses the Steinway & Sons piano (model B-211, serial number 98606), purchased by Giacomo Puccini in the spring of 1901. It is certainly to be considered the most important piano among the many owned by the composer, both for the quality, than for its history. The piano was restored in 2006. The instrument has kept its original structure, recovering the original sound.
12) VIA FILLUNGO / FILLUNGO STREET:
it is the main road in the center of Lucca. The street, 700 meters long and 10 meters wide, inside the walls, is one of the most representative symbols of the city, the center of tourist, commercial and artisanal activities in Lucca.
