  
Welcome to Lucca: the travel guide to Lucca city and surroundingsLucca is a small medieval town still surrounded by imposing city walls and situated between Florence and Pisa. The town is in a convenient position for visiting Garfagnana and its mountains, the beaches of the Versilia riviera, Lucca countryside and many important cities of art. Lucca is one of the most important Italian cities of art and is renowned all over the world in particular for its intact city walls.
Completely closed to traffic, Lucca’s historical centre has maintained its Roman-medieval urban structure unaltered: indeed, the two main streets of the Roman castrum – the cardo maximus and the decumanus maximus – are still to be recognized.
Numerous palaces, churches and monuments were then built in the Middle Ages.
Colours are Lucca’s hallmark. The white and red buildings made of marble and bricks and the green gardens of the numerous aristocratic residences recall the Italian flag and make Lucca a 100% Italian town.
Amongst Lucca’s most important squares are Piazza dell’Anfiteatro, which was a seat of entertainment for four centuries, Piazza Grande, with the Palazzo Ducale, Piazza San Giusto, where an important antique market takes place, Piazza San Michele, the ancient Roman forum, and Piazza San Martino, dominated by the imposing homonymous cathedral.
The 6th-century Romanesque Duomo di San Martino, the Church of San Michele, which was left unaccomplished due to economic problems, the 9th-century Church of San Frediano, the Church of San Giusto, situated between Piazza Grande and Piazza San Martino, and the Church of Santi Giovanni e Reparata, which was Lucca’s first cathedral, are well worth a visit.
Today the Palazzo Ducale is the seat of the provincial government, whereas Palazzo Mansi houses the Pinacoteca Nazionale and Palazzo Diodati-Orsetti is Lucca’s town hall. Together with Palazzo Guinigi, in Lucchese Romanesque-Gothic style, Palazzo Bernardini, attributed to Nicolao Civitali, the Torre delle Ore, situated in Via Fillungo, and the Torre Guinigi, offering a magnificent view of the whole town, they are among Lucca’s most important palaces and towers.
Lucca is also rich in museums housing different kinds of artworks, including the Museo Nazionale di Villa Guinigi, which exhibits interesting works of art from the Middle Ages to the 18th century, and the Museo and the Pinacoteca in Palazzo Mansi, situated in the town centre.
Lucca is also an excellent starting point for visiting the neighbourhoods.
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