One of the many reasons that makes Toscana so beautiful is the sense of pride that people have about their region. Here, everyone talks about how beautiful the city of Lucca is, and they are not wrong. The city center is surrounded by a huge wall, was built about 500 hundred years ago, which was not the first wall to be built here. The first wall was built by the Romans, and the ancient remains are still preserved within the city. Lucca is an ancient and medieval city that was founded by Etruscans, which were a rich and powerful civilization of ancient Italy, and it became a Roman colony in 180 B.C.
Inside the walls of modern day Lucca there are many privately owned shops and restaurants, along with some chain clothing stores on the main street. You can walk around the entire wall in maybe an hour (I’m not exactly sure, I wasn’t timing because it was busy sighing at all of the beautiful things), and there’s also a botanical garden in one area. Every street is gorgeous and looks like the real life version of a postcard of Toscana. Though there are a lot of people out and about on a Saturday, it doesn’t feel overwhelming like it can in a larger city like Firenze. I suggest stopping at a café in the morning for a pastry and an espresso, followed by a walk around the wall, take a look at the tower guinigi, which has trees on the top, Chiesa di San Michele in Foro is a beautiful cathedral in the center of town, have lunch at the slow food restaurant Il Mecenate where the owner graciously walks around and checks on his guests (their pasta is amazing, and so is their house red wine), perhaps finish the meal off with the traditional cake buccellato before taking another walk around the town.
Changing gears back to the history of this area, from the year 1118-1799 Lucca was an independent province. In 1805 Napoleon conquered this area and made his sister, Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi the princess. Elisa ruled from 1805 until the fall of Napoleon’s empire in 1814. On an incredibly sunny Saturday, after visiting the farmers market in Marlia (a town in the province of Lucca) Federico told me I should go to see one of the Villas in the area, which lead me to Villa Reale. This Villa has roots tracing back to the medieval age, beginning as a fortress for the Duke of Tuscia. Over the years the property changed hands from wealthy family to wealthy family with new additions and a baroque style added to the park. In 1806 princess Elisa took a great liking to this beautiful Villa and purchased it, which is when it was named Villa Reale (reale meaning royal.) She made her own modifications, adding statues, giving a more English style garden, and other modifications that were in vogue at the time. Alas, in 1814 she had to leave her beautiful Villa behind when Napoleon’s empire crumbled. After that some other rich people owned it and it was used to throw parties that their rich friends attended and over time the Villa became neglected. In 2015 a Swiss couple bought the property and now you can pay 9 euros to walk around this lovely estate. I highly recommend spending part of a late morning here if you’re in the area. After I suggest taking a 20-minute walk up the hill, passing vineyards and olive trees with a lovely view overlooking the province of Lucca, until you get to the restaurant Osteria Il Botteghino. It’s nothing fancy, the menu is read to you by your server who doesn’t really speak English, but the food is great and you get an affordable three course lunch, which is perfect after all of that walking.
I love Lucca and I love how much everyone here loves Lucca. If you’re ever in Toscana, I highly recommend stopping here for at least a day to explore the city, and maybe more if you can see some of the surrounding villages in the province.
