June 12 Tuscan city of Lucca

The old city wall of Lucca

Further on in our drive to Florence we stopped at Lucca - ‘City of Art’.  It, or rather the historic centre, is surrounded by a well-preserved Renaissance period wall. Our driver dropped us off at Piazza Napoleone and left us to wander.  What an astonishing and beautiful old city! 

Piazza Napoleone

Piazza dell'Anfiteatro is surrounded by building which follow the line of the C2nd Roman amphitheatre

Guinigi Tower with it's 'rooftop' oak trees

On our driver’s recommendation we first aimed for Piazza dell'Anfiteatro. We eventually found it -  and it was scorching hot and packed with a lunchtime crowd. This square is not square but is in fact oval following the elliptical shape of the former C2nd Roman amphitheatre of Lucca. The other notable place we decided to find was the Guinigi Tower, a 45m tall tower dating back to the 1300s. At the top of the tower is something quite amazing – a garden containing, of all things, oak trees. There are seven oak trees there. It is believed that they were first planted in C14 or C15th but that over time they have been replanted. However, the ones atop the tower at the moment are still thought to be several hundred years old. The closest we could get only gave us a view of the top of the tower with its trees waving at us through the dense crush of buildings.  Had we more time we would have found our way to its base.

An exhibition of Stefano Lotumolo's stunning photographic work

We stumbled across this old church which was being used to exhibit some of Stefano Lotumolo's exquisite photography. He is a son of Lucca and has travelled all over the world photographing people with different traditions and customs. The works were captivating and confronting in their honesty.  It was a wonderful find.

Chiesa di San Michele in Foro

This grand structure is San Michele in Foro  and is a Roman Catholic Basilica built over an ancient Roman forum. Until 1370 it was the seat of the Consiglio Maggiore (Major Council), the commune's most important assembly. It is dedicated to Archangel Michael. The decorative pieces are breathtaking and the columns are very beautiful and all different (very difficult to see the detail). What follows is a selection of images of what we saw as we strolled. 

We saw lots of 'reconstruction' on top of very old builds - bombed or simply crumbling

The narrow streets were fascinating

A wee police car

The postman's van

We stumbled on many piazzas and cafes

Evidence of some reconstruction work on this old building

A stairway to heaven?

The city is a sheer delight to simply wander through tossing a coin at each corner to decise which way to turn. We could have spent a lot more time there, but we had a plane to catch that evening. It had been an excellent and very enjoyable day.