What to Visit in Lucca

​Lucca is an ancient Tuscan city, originally founded by the Etruscans over a Ligurian settlement, later becoming Roman in 180 BC. Lucca's orthogonal street plan still remains visible today. In the early Middle Ages, Lucca became the capital of the Lombard Duchy of Tuscia and later became an independent territory in 1160, flourishing as one of the major city-state medieval republics of the Italian peninsula, renowned for its silk trade. From the 16th to 17th centuries, Lucca constructed its current Renaissance walls—a fully intact defensive ring stretching over 4 km around the city. During the Napoleonic era, Lucca briefly became a Principality (Principality of Lucca and Piombino) under Elisa Bonaparte, who undertook significant urban reforms, and redisigned parts of the city following the aesthetic and administrative models of the French Empire, thereby introducing a marked French cultural influence. Lucca then become part of the Duchy of Tuscany in 1815 and was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1860.