Lucca's City Wall and Gates (Self Guided), Lucca

As one of Italy's Città d'arte's (arts towns), Lucca is famous, among other things, for its well-preserved ancient walls encircling the historic center. From about 570 AD until 1847 the city had been the center of the Longobard administration and the capital of old Tuscany, and as such required a defense system to render it an impenetrable fortress.

Back in the Middle Ages, the walls stood about 11-12 meters high, complete with a number of semicircular and square towers and four monumental gates, which were also flanked by cylindrical towers – in keeping with Roman tradition. Remarkably, of those four gates two are still in place, namely: Porta dei Borghi and Porta San Gervasio, built in the 13th century and miraculously escaped demolition.

Further modified during the Renaissance era as a defensive rampart, today the Walls of Lucca are deprived of their military importance and serve as a pedestrian promenade (Passeggiata delle Mura Urbane), an elevated passage linking the bastions and gates (Porte). Among the latter are:

Porta San Pietro – a southern gate, one of the city's oldest, built in 1565/66;

Porta Sant'Anna – aka Porta Vittorio Emanuele II, constructed in 1910 and initially criticized by locals for its plain design;

Porta Santa Maria – northern gate, established between 1592 and 1594, whose main feature is the statue of Madonna placed in the niche;

Porta San Jacopo – the very latest and simplest of the gates, built in 1930; nicknamed the “hole”, while originally called The Gate of Victory of the 4th of November;

Porta Elisa – named for Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, Napoleon's sister and ruler of Lucca.

For a chance to explore closer the imposing walls and gates of Lucca, take this self-guided walking tour.