Lucca – in the shadow of Pisa

Passing through modern, busy and traffic-heavy districts, you reach the ring-shaped city walls of Lucca. Slipping through one of the portals, you enter a seemingly different world in the historic centre. The noise and bustle seem to stay on the other side of the city ramparts.

In the 13th and 14th centuries, Lucca was one of the most influential European cities and competed with the neighbouring Tuscan republics of Pisa, Florence and Siena. Today, from a tourist perspective, Lucca lies in the shadow of the latter cities, even though Lucca also boasts an atmospheric old town with a Roman core, medieval alleys, palaces and towers, impressive Romanesque and later church buildings, as well as many other architectural, artistic and cultural sights. Unique features of Lucca also include the well-preserved and accessible fortifications, which completely enclose the old town, and the oval Piazza dell’ Anfiteatro, where the ruins of the Roman amphitheatre were built over in the Middle Ages.

In Lucca, you can also find numerous churches in the Pisan Romanesque style. This style is characterised in the lower section by horizontal stripes of coloured marble, flat ornaments and applied arches. Above these are three-dimensional tiers with galleries full of decorated columns, cornices, string courses and arches. The bell towers, with windows that increase by one arch on each floor, are also typical. Impressive examples of this era from the 12th to 13th centuries are the Romanesque San Martino Cathedral or the church of San Michele in Foro. Other outstanding buildings of this architectural form in Tuscany are Siena Cathedral and, of course, Pisa Cathedral with its Leaning Tower.