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Lucca¿s medieval
and Renaissance features are enclosed in its thick
sixteenth century walls, a characteristic of this
beautiful Tuscan town on the left of the river Serchio.
The circle of walls has eleven bastions of different
shapes and dimensions. Both the so called Torrione del
Bastardo and the San Martino bastion have preserved
their original XVIth century structure. In particular
inside the latter, open to visitors, we can examine in
detail of one of these impressive constructions and see
how the gunports used to be arranged. The San Paolino
bastion, completely restored and open to visitors,
proposes an unusual and winning solution for the
reclamation and usage of large underground spaces.
The town was a free commune since the XIIth century and
Porta San Pietro, the oldest (1565-1566) of its three
original gates, was the only one through which
foreigners were allowed to pass. Though in part modified
in the course of the centuries, it still preserves
substantially unchanged the look of its elegant facade.
Inside Porta Santa Maria (1592-1594), open to the public
and seat of the town¿s Newspaper Library, we can see the
large scale mechanism that served to lift the heavy
portcullis blocking the entrance below, the only
original mechanism surviving in town. Porta San Donato
Nuova (1628-1639) is an unusual example of town gate.
Slender and refined in shape it has an elegant two
colour decoration together with marble statues of San
Paolino and San Donato. To the above mentioned we must
add Porta Vecchia San Donato (1590), open to the public
and seat of the Tourist Office, with the nearby remains
of an old bastion which was part of an abandoned
fortification project still based on the medieval wall.
The circle of walls is completed by two modern gates,
Porta Elisa and Porta Vittorio Emanuele.
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In the country near Lucca is possible to visit
some storical villas,with theirs tales and legends
villa torrigiani
villa mansi. ----------- |
