Once we arrived to Lucca, we were introduced to our new tour guide, Davide, who was very enthusiastic when it came to telling us the history of his city. There were a lot of wars between Pisa and Lucca but Lucca was rarely victorious and ended up being under Pisan rule for a short time. The main square of Lucca is named after Napoleon from when they were under French rule. In 1861, the city was unified into the Italian kingdom. Today it bases its economy around tourism. There are two main tourist attractions that pull in massive profits for the city:
- Lucca Summer Festival: this is a music festival in July and it's a tribute to Giacomo Puccini (one of the greatest composers of all time that was born in Lucca). The festival lasts one month. In the past famous musicians like Elton John and Robbie Williams have performed.
- Lucca Comics and Games : this is a comic strip exhibition and the first of its kind in Italy. It lasts for 5 days from the end of October to the beginning of November. On Saturday, which is the main day of this event, there are more than 100,000 people inside the old city, when the normal population is just 20,000 people.
The square that's dedicated to Puccini is full of shops and restaurants that are named after his famous operas. He was born in 1858. During his life, he had a lot of passions including art, music and hunting. Davide also mentioned that since he was Italian, "He was also passionate about women!" Puccini died in Brussels in 1924. His most practiced passion was smoking cigars which ultimately caused his death due to cancer of the throat.
Around the corner, is one of Lucca's famous churches, Piazzale San Michele. This church was built by Diotisalvi between the Roman Age and the 11th century. Diotisalvi was also the creator of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. There is a 4 meter tall statue of the Archangel Michael at the top of the church. On the lower right corner of the facade is a statue of the Virgin Mary with child built in 1480. This piece was sculpted Matteo Civitali to celebrate the end of the 1476 plague. The facade includes sculptures and reliefs of animals and vegetables. The white and grey marble comes from Cavarra.
There are two important medieval towers that still exist inside the walls of Lucca:
- Torre Delle Ore (Clock Tower) : This is the tallest tower in Lucca. There is a curious legend regarding the clock tower. There was a woman named Lucida Mansi, who sold her soul to the Devil to remain young and beautiful. The Devil would return after thirty years to demand payment of the debt. At the end of thirty years, on the night of August 14, 1623, Lucida Mansi climbed the Tower, anxious to stop the bell from hitting midnight. Lucida did not reach the mechanism in time, so she could not stop him and the Devil took her soul.
- Torre Guinigi : It takes 230 steps to get to the top of this tower and you are rewarded with a beautiful view of the city and a fantastic hanging garden full of trees, flowers, and plants. This tower is more visited because of it's garden-in-the-sky feel.
Our second destination was Pisa, home of the Square of Miracles. There are four monuments that make up the entire square.
- Baptistery (the baptism into the Christian world) : The baptistery is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. It s the largest baptistery in Italy. With the statue of St. John the Baptist included, it is actually a few centimeters taller than the Leaning Tower. The baptistery is also styled by Diotisalvi who's name translates to God save you.  |
| Fun on the green of the Baptistery- Jeunesse |
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| Hey! This is perfect tumbling grass! - Cody |
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| Hey I can do it too! lol - Garrett |
- Cathedral ( the growth of life) : This church is dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta meaning St. Mary of the Assumption. The original central door was made of bronze around 1180 by Bonanno Pisano, while the other two doors were made of wood. Due to a fire in 1595 the original doors were lost and replaced. Worshippers do not used the front doors to enter, instead entering through St. Ranieri's Door in front of the Leaning Tower.
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| Another pretty church... |
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| Inside the Cemetery |
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| I feel like you can guess.... No caption needed. |
- The Leaning Tower (the elevation to God) : There are exactly 293 of this tilted tower. Construction of the bell tower began in 1173 and took place in three stages over the course of 177 years with the final bell-chamber (containing 7 main bells) only added in 1372. The construction of the building was paused in 1377 after the third floor was added because the weak soil and poor foundation led to the building sinking on it's south side. It wasn't touched for 100 years which allowed the soil to settle and prevented the building from collapsing. In 1272, to adjust the lean of the building, the next three floors were built with one side taller than the other. By the time the building was completed, the lean was approximately 1 degree. As of 2010, the lean was reduced from 5.5 to approximately 4 degrees. After almost three hundred steps, we got to the top and enjoyed the experience with our crew.
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| Cheeeesssseeee |
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| Trying not to fall off the tower lol |
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| Okay finally got our footing.. |
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| Crew Photo! |
We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out and charting what we needed to do before we leave in December. Tuesday was our adventure day. Despite it being ridiculously cold with a chance of extreme winds, we managed to take the first set of Jeunesse's senior pictures. Why not use the beautiful natural backgrounds of Italy instead of a corny backdrop.
It was definitely a chill week (no pun intended). Next week is parents weekend and a much needed break from classes. There might be a mini blog post to update you on the fun times and family laughs. Until next time!
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