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Remember how the novel War and Peace starts? With words about Lucca. They are discussing news in a salon that Lucca has become a French principality and that Napoleon has given to his sister as a present. Yet, forty years later Lucca was returned to Italy and joined Tuscany, to which it had belonged since the world began and still belongs. It’s interesting to know that the connection between Lucca and Russia isn’t limited to just War and Peace. The famous translator Cesare Bocella, who acquainted the Italians with Pushkin’s works, was born here, in Lucca.
Small cozy Lucca is a classic example of the ancient Roman building system, with parallel and perpendicular streets forming a circle, with the main square in the center. For a long time, Amphitheater Square in Lucca was just a market, and now it is a favorite venue for open-air performances. And Lucca’s inhabitants built houses around the square with stones used for this amphitheater.
Lucca was first mentioned in Roman sources – they say that Roman forces stopped here after losing a battle with Hannibal. Then Lucca became a large defensive fortress. A meeting of the Triumvirate – Caesar, Crassus and Pompeius – was held here. To this day, the city has preserved the fortress walls with bastions, trenches and escarpments – 4 km of ancient might. Local citizens recommend taking a look at the walls on a bicycle.
Lucca is famous for its churches; there are more than a hundred of them – big and small ones, austere and rich in ornament, Gothic and Romanesque. One of the most magnificent cathedrals is the gleaming white church of St. Michael (San Michele in Foro).
Another of the city’s outstanding sight is the National Museum of Villa Guinigi. Paolo Guinigi was the ruler of Lucca. His young wife Illaria died an early death and in her honor Lucca bears the name of “the city of the woeful bride”.
But there is nothing woeful and sad in modern Lucca any more. Quiet and calm streets lead to the center along shops and cafés. The water in the fountains is drinkable (local citizens take this water home by filling plastic bottles with it). The Dante Restaurant (named after the great poet’s visit) offers delicious fish, pasta and, of course, coffee. Don’t forget to try something with olive oil – the local olives are considered to be the best in Italy.
Rock concerts are often held in Napoleon’s Square (the name has remained since the time the Emperor gave Lucca to his sister as a gift).
Speaking of music, Lucca is the Italian capital of opera above all: here is where the immortal geniuses of music, Puccini and Paganini, lived and worked.
Finally, Lucca is one of world capitals of… comic books! Children and grownups come to the Lucca Festivals of comic books, caricatures and games – nowhere else can people celebrate and have fun like this!
Not far from here, the big cities are humming. It’s a few hours flight to Moscow, and from here a fast train runs to Florence. At the same time Lucca knows how to stay quiet and undisturbed. Surrounded by gardens, vineyards and beautiful views of mountains, divided by precise narrow streets, quiet and small Lucca is made for a calm and joyful life.
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