Lucca

Lucca has ancient origins, and for much of its long history it maintained its autonomy. The stories are, however, divided. Some think that Lucca was originally Ligurian, and others believe that it was first an Etruscan settlement.
But the most important influence on Lucca was probably during the Roman era from which we can still the elliptical form of the original Roman amphitheater in what is now a striking piazza, and what was the Roman forum in today’s Piazza San Michele. It was here in 55 BC that the imperial triumvirate: Pompeo, Caesar and Crasso met.
During the middle ages and renaissance Lucca was able to maintain its independence in large part thanks to its friend, Genoa.
It wasn’t until 1799 that the city fell under control of the Austrians, then in 1860 passed to the Kingdom of Sardinia.
Lucca is one of Italy’s most beautiful cities, internationally loved for its intact city walls which ring the city, and one of only 4 Italian cities that still have the original Renaissance era walls intact. (The others are: Bergamo, Ferrara and Grosseto.) But Lucca’s walls are particularly unique and picturesque, in part because already by the 1800s they were transformed into large park with a pedestrian promenade that rings the city.
In the past the walls were also used for traffic to pass around the city, the only case of city walls of this dimension and use.
However, the beauty of the city, doesn’t stop here, pass through the walls and you discover a jewel which has maintained its splendor throughout the centuries.
Start from the Piazza dell’Anfiteatro whose oval form mirrors what was once the ancient Roman amphitheater, pass by numerous medieval churches and monumental Renaissance villas and palaces to arrive in the Palazzo Ducale (Ducal Palace) completed in the 1700s by Filippo Juvarra.
During the middle ages the city had around 250 towers, of these, unfortunately, only few remain; however, it is thanks to one of these towers, the Torre Gunigi, that the city skyline is utterly unique. The top of this high tower is planted with numerous trees.

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