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€ 450
Beautiful and Luxury Buildings and Towers in Tuscany
The first historical traces of Lucca can be dated back to the Palaeolithic period. Afterwards this area was inhabited by the Ligurians, the Etruscans and in the III century by the Romans. In 180 B.C. it became a Latin colony.
This was a period of splendour for the town because of its strategic position: the most important roads of the time, such as the Cassia, the Aurelia and the Clodia, intersected just outside the town.
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The geometrical layout of the town and the Roman Forum can be dated back to this period. During the barbaric domination Lucca was the capital of the Longobard reign until the IX century. It became a free Comune in 1162 and in the following centuries it knew a new period of riches and splendour thanks to its banking and manufacturing activities and its trades with the rest of Europe and the East. A lot of beautiful and luxury buildings and towers are still today a sign of the prosperity the town enjoyed in that period.
In the first half of the XV century Lucca was ruled by Paolo Guinigi who improved its art and architecture: he had some important works made, such as Palazzo Guinigi and the wonderful sarcophagus of his wife, Ilaria del Carretto, which was made by Jacopo della Quercia. In the XV and XVI centuries the town fought to maintain its indipendence from the nearby powerful Firenze, so new and stronger town walls were erected.
The town changed its urban shape completely, as some old buildings and towers were replaced by new stately mansions with towers along the most important streets of the town. In 1799 Lucca underwent theNapoleon rule which lasted for 12 years. The town was ruled by Napoleon’s sister Elisa, wife of Felice Baciocchi. They lived in the Palazzo Pubblico in front of which a large square was opened: Piazza Napoleone.
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After the Congress of Vienna in 1814, Lucca began to be ruled by Parma. In this period the architect Lorenzo Nottolini planned the squares and the quarters of the town and created the picturesque promenade along the town walls. When in 1847 Lucca became part of the Grand Duchy of Toscana, a period of decay started for the town and ended only with the annexation to the Reign of Italy.
Giacomo Puccini’s Birth place in Lucca, in corte San Lorenzo 9, reopened its doors to visitors from all over the world. The Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Lucca has purchased the Birth place – which had been closed for a long time – along with its collection, entrusting the Fondazione Giacomo Puccini to manage the museum.
An important renovation of this flat, on the second floor of a building in the heart Lucca, where the composer was born on 22 December 1858 and lived his musical education years before moving to Milan, enabled the re-establishment of the original settings to create a fully refurbished museum which talks about the Maestro’s life and work through his music, documents, paintings, relics and furniture. From today onwards his Birth place opens out to visits, concerts and events to let his music and words ring out again.
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- Comfortable walking shoes recommended