Nearest Airport
: Pisa AIrport
at 20
Kilometres
Nearest Ferry
: Viareggio
at 20
Kilometres
Nearest Train
: Lucca
at 100
Metres
Nearest Beach
: Forte dei marmi
at 20
Kilometres
Car: not necessary
Lucca had been the second largest Italian city state (after Venice) with a republican constitution ('comune') to remain independent over the centuries.
In 1805, Lucca was conquered by Napoleon, who installed his sister Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi as 'Queen of Etruria'.
After 1815 it became a Bourbon-Parma duchy, then part of Tuscany in 1847 and finally part of the Italian State.
The walls around the old town remained intact as the city expanded and modernized, unusual for cities in the region. As the walls lost their military importance, they became a pedestrian promenade which encircled the old town, although they were used for a number of years in the 20th century for racing cars. They are still fully intact today; each of the four principal sides is lined with a different tree species.
The Academy of Sciences (1584) is the most famous of several academies and libraries.
The Casa di Puccini will re-open to the public on 14 September 2011.[4] At the nearby town of Torre del Lago, there is a Puccini opera festival every year in July/August. Puccini had a house there as well.
The Passeggiata delle Mura.
Church of San Michele of Antraccoli.
There are many richly built medieval basilica-form churches in Lucca with rich arcaded façades and campaniles, a few as old as the 8th century.
Piazza dell'Anfiteatro
Piazzale Verdi
Piazza Napoleone
Piazza San Michele
Duomo di San Martino (St Martin's Cathedral)
The Ducal Palace, built on the location of Castruccio Castracani's fortress. The original project was begun by Bartolomeo Ammannati in 1577–1582, and continued by Filippo Juvarra in the 18th century.
The ancient Roman amphitheatre
Church of San Michele in Foro
Romanesque church of San Giusto.
Lucca is the birthplace of composers Giacomo Puccini (La Bohème and Madama Butterfly), Nicalao Dorati, Francesco Geminiani, Gioseffo Guami, Luigi Boccherini, and Alfredo Catalani. It is also the birthplace of Bruno Menconi and artist Benedetto Brandimarte.
