Lucca Attractions
The provincial capital of Lucca, the see of an archbishop, lies in the northwest of Tuscany, on the left bank of the River Sergio, almost 25km/16mi inland from Viareggio.
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Cathedral
The Lucca Cathedral displays a marvelous Romanesque facade with arches and columns. The interior features fine works of art, including the most impressive Volto Santo, an effigy of Christ on the Cross.
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National Museum
The National Museum in Lucca is housed in the historic Villa Guinigi. The museum contains an impressive collection of sculptures and other works.
Palazzo Pfanner-Controni
The Palazzo Pfanner-Controni, just inside the walls on the north side of the old town of Lucca, was built in 1667. It is noted for its open two-story loggia with staircase, a harmonious Renaissance creation. The garden, laid out in the 17th century, has a number of fine statues.
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Piazza Napoleone
Located within the old town walls is the main square known as Piazza Napoleone.
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San Frediano
San Frediano was created in the first half of the 12th C, with alterations in the 13th C.
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San Michele in Foro
A five story facade graces the 12th to 14th C church of San Michele in Foro. The church was meant to be enlarged later on but the project was abandoned.
Churches
East of Piazza San Michele in Lucca, in Via Fillungo stands the Romanesque church of San Cristoforo (11th-12th century). To the north is the Chiesa San Salvatore or Chiesa della Misericordia, also 11th-12th century.
House of Puccini
Opposite San Michele in Via de Possio stands the house in which the famous composer Giacomo Puccini was born on December 22nd, 1858. A small museum has personal mementoes of his life.
Case de Puccini
Corte San Lorenzo 9
Via di Poggio
I-55100 Lucca
Italy
Corte San Lorenzo 9
Via di Poggio
I-55100 Lucca
Italy
Hours
May 1 to August 31
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | Closed | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 |
| Close | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 |
September 1 to April 30
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | Closed | 11:00 | 11:00 | 11:00 | 11:00 | 11:00 | 11:00 |
| Close | 13:00 | 13:00 | 13:00 | 13:00 | 13:00 | 13:00 | |
| Open | 15:00 | 15:00 | 15:00 | 15:00 | 15:00 | 15:00 | |
| Close | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 |
National Picture Gallery
A short distance west of the House of Puccini stands the 17th century Palazzo Mansi which houses the notable Pinacoteca Nazionale (National Picture Gallery), with pictures by Veronese, Tintoretto, Bergognone, G. Reni and other painters of the school of Tuscany.
Palazzo Bernardini
A little way east of San Cristóforo in Lucca can be seen the long three-storyed facade of the Palazzo Bernardini, built by Matteo Civitali in the early 16th century. It has a beautiful doorway and an elegant courtyard.
Palazzo Pretorio
In Via Vittorio Véneto, which runs north from the Piazza Napoleone, is the Palazzo Pretorio, begun in 1492 to the design of Matteo Civitali and completed in Renaissance style in 1589. On the ground floor is a portico with a statue of Matteo Civitali (1893). The palazzo is now occupied by the Pretura, a law court.
Piazzale Verdi
Piazzale Verdi is a center square in Lucca where the Tourist Office is located. It used to contain a palace that was once owned by he Marquis of Tuscia.
Porta San Gervasio
To the east of the church, at the end of Via Santa Croce, is the old Porta San Gervasio, a remnant of the town's second circuit of walls (13th century), with two massive round towers.
San Cristóforo
To the northeast of the Piazza Napoleone, at the near end of the busy Via Fillungo, stands the Church of San Cristóforo, which dates from the 12th-13th centuries. There are three doorways in the facade, the central one having a richly ornamented architrave. Set in the wall to the right are two iron standard measures marking the width of a bolt of cloth as fixed by the Università dei Mercanti. In the upper part of the facade is a large rose-window (14th century).
San Paolino
San Paolino, Lucca's only Renaissance church, stands to the west of the Piazza San Michele. This aisleless church was built between 1522 and 1539 by Baccio da Montelupo and his successor Bastiano Bertolani, probably on a site once occupied by a Roman temple. In the presbytery is an Early Christian sarcophagus with a representation of the Good Shepherd in which St Paulinus, the church's patron, was buried.
San Romano
To the southwest of the Palazzo della Provincia is the Church of San Romano, built by the Dominicans in 1280 (apse added in 1373); the facade is unfinished. The lower part of the campanile is of stone, the upper part of brick. The church contains the Tomb of St Romanus (1490).
Santa Maria della Rosa
A short distance east of the cathedral is a small low church dedicated to Santa Maria della Rosa, built against the Roman town walls in 1309 by the Università dei Mercanti. On the side wall are Gothic arcades enclosing elegant windows. On the left-hand wall of the interior are large dressed blocks of stone from the Roman walls.
Lucca Surroundings
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Forte dei Marmi, Italy
Forte dei Marmi is home to a lovely stretch of beach that has made it a popular seaside resort. It is also well known for the marble quarries in the area.
Arliano, Italy
The village of Arliano has a fine Romanesque parish church whose origins go back to the eighth century, making it one of the oldest surviving churches in the region. It contains a number of works of art of the 14th-16th centuries.
San Guiliano Terme, Italy
Southwest of Lucca, prettily situated under the west side of the Monti Pisani, is the spa of San Giuliano Terme (10m/33ft; pop. 27,000), with radioactive sulfur springs.
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