Lucca and its surroundings

For its monumental and historic wealth, Lucca's center has been proposed as an addition to the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is bountiful with impressive touristic attraction, beginning with the nearly-intact walls that surround the city. You can access the city, passing through one of its six gates; moving clockwise from the north, they are: Porta Santa Maria (1592), St. James Gate or Porta San Jacopo alla Tomba (1930), Porta Elisa (1811 dedicated to Elisa Baciocchi), Porta San Pietro (1565), Porta Sant'Anna, Porta Vittorio Emanuele or Buco di Sant'Anna (1910), and Porta San Donato (1629). Other gates, the traces of even more ancient walls, are: the Old Porta San Donato (1590), in Piazza San Donato, seat of the Opera delle Mure; Porta San Gervasio (1198), along Via del Fosso (dating back to the Middle Ages); and Porta dei Borghi.

The old town has preserved its Medieval appearance (due to its finely-worked architecture), ancient and numerous churches (Lucca is also called the "city of 100 churches") and, thanks to its many towers, bell towers and monumental Renaissance palaces. Among the towers, the Clock Tower is the highest, at 164 ft; here you can admire the hand-wound clock mechanism and the internal wooden staircase, with its well-preserved 207 steps. The Torre Guinigi is one of the most representative monuments of Lucca, curiously displaying a fan of holm oaks at its top. See some of the city's other charming piazzas: Piazza Anfiteatro, built on the ruins of the ancient Roman amphitheatre by architect Lorenzo Nottolini; Piazza San Michele, historic heart of the city; Piazza San Martino with the famous Duomo; Piazza Napoleone, requested by Elisa Baciocchi during her Principality; and Piazza del Giglio, overlooking the homonymous theatre.