Lucca - part 2

Lucca was originally another Etruscan town, but unlike most others that I have visited, it was not built on a hill-top. Supposedly there is evidence somewhere that an earlier people, the Ligures, also had a settlement here. They were the people who gave their name to the Ligurian Sea and the Region of Liguria (of which Genoa is the capital). Anyway, it was eventually taken by the Romans.
After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Lucca was a fairly important town, being attacked by Odoacer (the first Germanic king of Italy in 476) and later by the Eastern Roman Empire. The Lombards made it the seat of one of their dukes, and by the 11th century it had become the feudal capital of the margravate of Tuscany. Lucca eventually became an independent commune, having acquired a charter in 1160, and were an independent republic for almost 500 years. In fact, when the Medici family became the Grand Dukes of Tuscany in the 16th century, Lucca was the only independent part of Tuscany.
Well, there's a lot more but I'm tired of writing about it. Lucca was eventually taken by Napoleon, the Bourbon family, Tuscany again, then finally became part of the new Italian State in 1847.


The Duomo di San Martino, aka the Cathedral of St. Martin, which was begun in 1063.


Hmmm. I forget what this church is.


Here is the Church of San Michele in Foro. It was built over the forum of the old Roman town. The facade was built in the 13th century.


San Michele in Foro was rebuilt in 1070 by Pope Alexander II, but there was much older church on this site. All of the columns are different.


The Basilica of San Frediano is named for Fredianus, an Irish Bishop of Lucca from the 6th century. The mosaic of The Ascension of Christ the Saviour is from the 13th century.


There were a lot of people out on this Sunday. This is something that I've noticed a lot in Italian towns. People are outside a lot. Whether it's the evening passagiata (where people stroll aound the streets and piazzas to see others and be seen) or families out on a weekend afternoon, Italian people spend a lot of time outside. It's nice. Although the passagiata can be kind of annoying when you're trying to get somewhere quickly and there are thousands of people clogging the narrow streets and walking very slowly.


I thought that some of the first areas we walked through in Lucca were pretty plain and boring, but later we walked through some very pretty piazzas.


Sarah hangs out with her friend Giacomo Puccini.


The Piazza Anfiteatro was built around the old Roman amphitheater.

The last thing we did in town was climb up one of the Torre Guinigi. It is a medieval tower that survived the Renaissance and even has trees growing on the top of it. It gave us some spectacular views which will be in the final Lucca posting.