Today we took a bus tour to Lucca and then Pisa. Lucca is about an hour from Florence. It is a quiet, charming little town that has some beautiful ancient structures which make you fully grasp the history and age of Italy. For example, in the early days, there used to be a tower on every street corner. Its purpose was to announce to the world, that the families living in the adjoining house were wealthy. Here’s one of the key towers that remains standing in Lucca today- the Guinigi Tower.
In addition, there was a church on almost every street corner- reflecting the deep emphasis that was placed on religion at this time. Here’s the Church of San Michele which is in the centre of town (and was the meeting point for our tour):
One of the highlights of Lucca is the Ramparts- an impenetrable brick wall that encircles the entire town. In the early days (16th Century), the wall was built to protect the town from cannon attacks from neighbouring cities. It was so high, and surrounded by such a vast no-man land of grass (now a pretty picnic spot for tourists) that no one bothered to attack the town.
We also saw the site of the old Roman Amphitheatre. As my Rick Steve’s guide tells me, the amphitheatre used to seat about 10,000 people, but it was gradually “cannibalised” for its stones. Now, all that remains are the stones of the amphitheatre floor and some arches. The circumference of the amphitheatre is still reflected by a circular set of shops and cafes.
[Stylish old man on his bicycle:]
After a quick lunch and gelato (where Man from Mars dropped his, and a doggie ate it up) we hopped back on the bus and saw what all tourists flock to see- the amazing Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Field of Miracles.
[Man from Mars loses his gelato:]
From memory, the slant of the Tower is 4 degrees and was caused by the soft, moist soil which started to sink almost as soon as construction started. The builder changed at various points of construction and you can see that on the third floor, they attempted to straighten the tower by adjusting the pillar lengths. Somewhere near the top, they tried again to fix the slant by angling the last few storeys backwards. We took the usual “I’m supporting the Leaning Tower of Pisa” photos before taking a tour of the Duomo (Cathedral).
Now, having seen so many cathedrals during our trip, I’ll be honest, you tend to become a little desensitised to the grandeur after a while. However, the Duomo was stunning and in particular, I loved the pulpit that was sculpted by Giovanni Pisano. The pulpit used to sit at the front on the alter, and it reflects Jesus’ journey from birth to his crucifixion (kind of like the one in the Notre Dame). One quirky fact which our tour guide gave us was that, rather than signing his work in the usual artist way, the sculptor included himself in the pulpit (a little man sandwiched between two seminal religious figures). Here he is:
The ceiling of the Duomo was also amazing- made from gold it was commissioned by the powerful Medici family after the original wooden ceiling was destroyed by fire.
After a super informative session, we were led back to our tour bus and returned back to Florence at 5:30 pm before tacking the leather goods markets.
Tomorrow we’re going to spend our last half day here at the Academia and the Uffizi Gallery. Then it’s off to Siena!
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