At times we read that the inhabitants of Lucca, the Lucchesi, built
their landscape “as if their only preoccupation were
beauty”. It is a varied and generous landscape, abounding in
life as well as silences, paths between the woods, valleys,
meadows, and picturesque medieval villages.
Lucca enjoys an enviable position a few minutes away from the sea
and less than an hour by car from Florence. It borders on the
province of Pisa, and is surrounded by the Apennine mountains
and the spurs of the Apuan Alps. Hemmed in by its walls, the
city reveals itself a little at a time. Only by walking along
the narrow streets of the historic center and visiting the more
than one hundred churches and almost the same number of palaces
can one discover the mystery and magic of a past that abounds in
the history, culture, and architecture of various epochs.
Everything in the city of Lucca is to be seen, because the
historical essence of the different styles has given rise to a
harmonious building fabric which still today is well preserved
and worth seeing.
Every contrast is pleasing to the eye, from the most severe
Romanesque to the most sumptuous Renaissance styles: a guiding
thread leads those who travel it, an impact that is immediately
revealed while walking along the 4 km of Walls that surround the
city like an embrace. In fact, Lucca is one of the few Italian
cities to have preserved intact its own enclosing walls. Under
the Bourbon rulers these were transformed into a public walkway,
consisting of tree-lined paths where in previous years – believe
it or not – car races actually took place.
On entering the city from the south, we encounter
piazza Napoleone, also known as “Piazza Grande”. It has been
subjected to a restoration that has given it back its original,
early 19th century appearance. The west side of the square is
entirely occupied by the facade of the Palazzo Pubblico, or
Palazzo Ducale. With its vast inside courtyards and
magnificent public rooms. On exiting from the opposite side and
turning right, we come out in the square containing the church
of S. Romano, which was built in the 13th century over a
subsequently-restructured oratory that already existed in 792.
The single-nave interior with transept became one of the most
important examples of baroque in Lucca, thanks to the
transformations brought about by the Dominican father, Giovanni
Buonvisi, and the Lucchese architect, Vincenzo Buonamici.
Bearing east, we go past the
Teatro del Giglio – a 17th century neo-classical building,
the work of the Lucchese architect Giovanni Lazzarini: a
testimony to Lucca's musical tradition – and the very ancient
Church of S. Giovanni, and arrive at the
Saint Martino Cathedral, a masterpiece of Romanesque art,
with its 13th century facade that abounds in multiform columns
and a portico decorated with very fine bas-reliefs. Inside are
two of the monuments dearest to the hearts of the Lucchesi: the
Volto Santo, a wooden crucifix, and Jacopo della Quercia's
masterpiece: the funeral monument to Ilaria del Carretto, the
wife of Paolo Guinigi, Lord of Lucca in the early years of the
15th century. To one side, Piazza Antelminelli opens up with its
fountain built by the architect Nottolini (1832-35), as
testimony to the termination of the works for realizing the
aqueduct. The
Museum of the Cathedral, with its precious historical and
artistic patrimony, is also located in the square.
Continuing, we encounter in the middle of the same square the
Romanesque
Church of Saint Michele in Foro with its magnificent facade
of white calcareous stone. It is particularly developed
vertically with respect to the other churches in Lucca: a large
statue of St. Michael adorns its pinnacle. Situated in the
ancient forum of the Roman city, the church rises over a
previous construction that dates back to the 8th century. A short
distance away is
Palazzo Pretorio, a 16th century edifice under the loggia of
which is preserved the monument to Matteo Civitali.
In the immediate vicinity, to the west, is the house where the
most famous Lucchese was born: the great composer, Giacomo
Puccini. It is now a
Museum dedicated to him. Retracing our steps, we encounter
the most frequented and animated street in the city: Via
Fillungo, the real commercial center and Lucca's “drawing room”.
Via Fillungo leads to
piazza Anfiteatro, a square that never ceases to fascinate
and amaze. Risen over the original layout of the Roman era,
which is still visible on the outside, over the course of the
centuries the square has undergone a residential, commercial and
artisan stratification that has caused it to assume a unique
connotation, with its original elliptical-shaped structure
still perfectly recognizable.
Continuing in a northerly direction, Via Fillungo opens out into
another very lovely square,
Saint Frediano Square, where the
Basilica dedicated to the saint who was Bishop of Lucca
rises. The white marble facade is dominated by a large
Byzantine-style mosaic of Christ's Ascension, attributed to the
Berlinghieri school that flourished in Lucca during the 13th
century. Climbing the walls again on the part opposite to the
one from which we descended, we can enjoy a view of the 17th
century
Palazzo Pfenner and its formal garden decorated with marble
statues.
Having crossed the city from south to north, we can now do so
from east to west. Barely beyond the neo-classical Porta Elisa,
a gate that was opened in 1809 at the request of Elisa Baciocchi,
Napoleon's sister, we encounter the
Church of Saint Micheletto, rebuilt in the 18th century from
a 12th century Romanesque church. The “Licia e Carlo Ragghianti”
Study center, with its extensive library of modern art, has its
seat in the annex of the former Minoresse convent.
The center
adjoins the Orto Botanico that was set up in 1820 for the Royal
University of Lucca: the garden contains centuries-old trees,
rare and exotic plants, but also medicinal plants of the
Lucchese agricultural and food tradition. Heading to the right,
beyond the little square of Saint Ponziano with its church of
the same name, we encounter the monumental
Villa Buonvisi al Giardino, better known as Villa Bottini.
San Frediano mosaic
Built in 1566 in the center of a large park, the two-storey
villa has simple lines, large windows on the ground floor, and
an open gallery on the back. The gallery and the halls preserve
frescoes by Ventura Salimbeni, painted after 1593.
On the western side, the villa overlooks Via del Fosso, one of
the most recognizable in Lucca's urban layout, both of its
mixed linear plan metric development and also the presence of a
moat. The latter was derived from the Serchio river, upstream
from the city, in order to supply water to the hammers and looms
of the silk-weavers, dyers and other artisans who settled in the
area from the 15th century on, characterizing the street with a
continuous hoard of buildings of a particular architectural
typology. The Porta dei Santi Gervasio e Protasio that opens off
Via del Fosso is among the last vestiges of the ancient medieval
walls, together with the Porta dei Borghi, situated at the end
of Via Fillungo. Huge in size and flanked by stone keeps
decorated with sculptures, these give us an idea of how
different the walls of the time were from the present ones.
Before crossing through the doorway, it is best to turn right
towards the north, and reach
Villa Guinigi, the Guinigi family's summer home. Obviously
Gothic in style, it was built outside the 13th century walls
starting in 1413, by Paolo Guinigi during his signori.
Today, it is the seat of
one ot the two National Museums (the other is located in
Palazzo Mansi), and houses numerous important Etruscan and Roman
works, Romanesquem Gothic and Renaissance sculptures, and
noteworthy paintings.
The family's residence par excellence,
Palazzo Guinigi, rises a short distance away.
Over it rises the
characteristic “Torre Alberata”, (tower with tree) another of the symbolic
monuments of the city. It owes its name to the centuries-old
ilex trees that adorn its summit. Built entirely of dark-red
bricks, it is 41 meters high; from its top, a suggestive
panorama over the city can be enjoyed.
Lucca can be enjoyed from
on high also from the “Torre delle Ore” (or Torre civica), so
called because of the clock and bell tower on top, both
documented ever since 1390. Few meters away from the tower we
find Piazza Guidicioni, seat of the National Archiv and of
Palazzo Sanminiati, that preserves two important paintings
attributed to the German painter Georg Christoph Martini, “il
Sassone”.
Having gone back up Via Fillungo, we continue along
Via S. Giustina and encounter two remarkable buildings:
Palazzo Orsetti and
Palazzo Mansi. The former, attributed to Nicolao Civitali,
is the seat of the municipal administration, which purchased it
in 1971.
Inside, among rooms of great worth are the Hall of Mirrors, and
precious paintings, such as the Morte del Wallenstein by Pietro
Paolini. The latter palace, one of the two national Museums in
Lucca, is a magnificent example of a 16th century noble
residence. Inside, there are the monumental apartments of the
piano nobile with their frescoed rooms, reception rooms with
tapestries, the well-known 18th century Bridal (or Lucida Mansi)
Chamber, and a rich art gallery. Continuing always west, we come
out in a large green space included within the enclosing walls:
this is Piazzale S. Donato, which until the early 20th century
was the ancient Prato del Marchese, used for centuries on the
occasion of the September festivities and for other solemn
celebrations, for horse races, performances of various types,
and military parades. In 1832 there was also a large wooden
amphitheatre, the work of the architect Nottolini, which was
subsequently destroyed. Once again in sight of the walls, we can
take a look at the Vecchia Porta S. Donato, which is so called
in order to distinguish it from the new one, a few meters away.
The walls of Lucca are the most substantial in all
of Italy. Where most walled cities erected high and thin walls some
1 - 2 meters thick, Lucca created a massive moat and walls of some
20 meters thick These thick walls now serve as a wonderful promenade
for the town's folks and visitors. This is a must - be in Lucca at the
time of the "passeggiata" from 5:00 - 7:00pm the town strolls leisurely
around the city on top of the wall and along the historic street that
encircles the oval piazza anfiteatro, once the location of an oval Roman
amphitheater. Julius Ceaser is said to have walked this passeggiata in 85
BC "Passeggiate" is a delightful Italian custom, all towns and villages
have one and allow the informed traveler, to rub elbows with the locals.
MONUMENTAL VILLAS
More than three hundred villas rise in the great natural
amphitheatre of the hills – the natural boundary of the ancient
six-mile State, with the walled city of Lucca at its center, the
generating and organizing element of the entire territory.
Characteristic of the landscape are its parks and gardens,
avenues, water courses, walls and gates, the surrounding areas
terraced with vineyards and olive groves, farm houses, peasant's
houses, wine cellars and olive presses, ancient parish churches,
votive crosses and roadside tabernacles.
These are actually country palaces, or “palaces in a villa”, as
they were called by 16th century writers of treatises. They were
built by Lucchesi merchants who, from the 15th century on,
wanted to use part of their profits accumulated from trade and
financial activities (mainly connected with the spread of silk
and brocades to the markets of central and northern Europe) in
this way.
Starting from Lucca, we encounter a first group of villas a few
kilometers north of Ponte a Moriano. Family Bonvisi had the
villa of the same name built (today called Oliva) in the
locality of San Pancrazio around 1500, and commissioned Matteo
Civitali with its design. This villa has two superimposed
reception halls in the central part, from north to south, and
with the characteristic gallery open on two floors, the
single-block columns of which are made of stone from Matraia. In
the large (about 5 hectares) park of the villa, we find the
amphitheatre of ilex trees and a “grotesque” with plays of water
and marble statues.
In the 16th century, also in San Pancrazio, the powerful Diodati
merchants built
Villa Grabau over the ruins of a medieval village. The
original Gothic characteristics were transformed first into
those of the Renaissance and then into neo-classical ones.
The
9-hectare park consists of various architectural gardens, and is
among the most interesting ones in Lucchesia, both for the form
and for the richness and variety of the plant species.
A short distance away, in the hamlet of Marlia, is Villa Reale,
today the property of the Pecci-Blunt family. Napoleon's sister,
Elisa Baciocchi, Princess of Lucca, created this grandiose
complex by united Villa Orsetti with the surrounding lands that
also included a palace: the former summer residence of the
Bishop of Lucca. She had the ancient palace and the front open
galleries restructured, but the magnificent 17th century gardens
– with the splendid Teatro di Verzura and the “Viale delle
Camelie” - have come down to us substantially intact.
Villa Mansi in the nearby village of Segromigno is open for
visits. In the 17th century, the Mansi family, well-known silk
merchants, purchased the villa from the Cenami family, and
restructured the original 16th century building. The
reorganization of the park after the design by Filippo Juvarra
was distinctive. Famous for the beauties of its gardens and the
elegance of its architectural lines, Villa Mansi often gave
hospitality to sovereigns and ambassadors from numerous European
countries, who were invited there by the Republic of Lucca for a
pleasant stay.
In Camigliano, a few minutes away from Villa Mansi, rises the
villa by the same name, originally known as
Villa Torrigiani. Dating back to the 16th century, the
building that belonged to the Buonvisi family was sold in the
first half of the 17th century to Marchese Nicolao Santini,
ambassador from Lucca to the court of the Sun King. Two majestic
rows of cypress trees, about one km in length, announce the
facade – one of the best examples of baroque architecture in
Tuscany – that is mirrored in the water of the large fountains,
as at Versailles. Starting in the 19th century, the park took on
a more romantic appearance with the insertion of exotic species.
At Vicopelago there is Villa Bernardini, a precious example of
late-Renaissance architecture built by Bernardino Bernardini in 1615.
Lying in the center of the park, belongs to the cubic
architectonical typology, with a three arched atrium in the
facade. It always remained a property of the same family
undergoing only to brief changing. The garden preserves an
important “Teatro di Verzura” (green theater) realized in “Bozus
Sempervirens” planted in the second half of the XVII century.
