Lucca: inside the city

The cathedral of San Martino

Having walked round the walls of Lucca this morning, we obviously had to explore the town itself this afternoon. We first had lunch with brother- and sister-in-law Ric and Gabriella, who had come with us from Pisa, but were doing their explorations by bike, and then began our walk at the Duomo. The oldest bits, the apse and the campanile, date from 1063, but the facade dates from 1204 and the nave and transepts from the 14th century. The facade is curiously asymmetrical, with the right side being much smaller. The pre-existing campanile was obviously a constraint, and perhaps there was something on the other side too, but why not make a symmetrical facade to fit the available space?

The atrium, the area between the arches and the doors, has fine bas relief sculpture and the main door is particularly impressive.

Inside, there is an extraordinary tempieto by the 15th century sculptor Matteo Civitali. We now walked past the church of San Giovanni to Piazza Napoleone, whose forthcoming attractions included Neil Young, no less. Our next main stop was Piazza San Michele, where there was a fine loggia in one corner of the square. This seems to be the Palazzo Pretorio which dates back to 1492 and the statue under the loggia is none other than the sculptor Matteo Civitali.

The square is of course dominated by the church of San Michele in Foro, a magnificent example of the Pisan Romanesque style. The columns of the four levels of the arcade are all different. On the top there is the imposing 13th century statue (4 meters high) of St Michael the Archangel slaying the dragon.

We now headed towards the main shopping street via Fililungo and caught a glimpse of the Torre delle Ore - the Clock Tower - which dates from 1471.

In via Fililungo we noticed the wonderful terracotta windows of the 13th century Casa Barletti-Baroni, with little terracotta heads on either side of the arches.

We were pleased to find the hotel La Luna where we had stayed before and just beyond it we entered the oval Piazza del Anfiteatro, whose shape clearly bears the footprint of the Roman amphiteatre of which there is otherwise no trace. It seemed a lot busier that it had in 1997.

Nearby by is Lucca's third great church, San Frediano (Pisa also has church dedicated to this Irish monk). This time, instead of the marble arcades we have become used to, there is a 13th century mosaic of Christ in Majesty.

Now we headed for our final sight: the Torre Guinigi. We climbed it in 1997 and were pleased to see it again from the walls as we walked around them this morning. It is difficult to photograph, being surrounded by other buildings, so I bought and scanned this postcard, with its improbably blue sky.

When we got home we looked through our 1997 photo album and hilariously I had bought the identical postcard then. You could just detect minor changes in how it had been printed.

The views from the top are wonderful. In this picture, Sand Frediano is on the left and the line of trees immediately behind it marks the line of the walls. The Piazza del Anfiteatro is visible in the centre.

Conditions: warm and sunny.

Distance: probably much the same as this morning's 4 km.

Rating: five stars.

Lucca: around the walls

Porta San Pietro

We first walked around the 4km-long walls of Lucca in 1997 and today we shall do so again, but this time clockwise. We enter Lucca through the Porta San Pietro, having taken the train from Pisa where we have come to spend some time with brother- and sister-in-law Ric and Gabriella who are over from Canada on a lecture tour.

The walls were built between 1500 and 1650, replacing earlier medieval ramparts. They are 12 metres high and link together 11 bastions. Trees were planted at the top to stabilise the earth that lies within the brick walls and four species are used in succession around the four sides: plane, lime, ilex and chestnut. When they were completed all trees and buildings within 200m were destroyed, leaving the grassy surroundings that you can see today. The walls never in fact had to withstand a siege and in the 19th century Duchess Maria Luisa of Bourbon had them converted into a public walkway.

We soon saw our first lion statue. It seems to be the symbol of Lucca - and there is one over the gate of San Pietro - but I haven't managed to find out why.

Soon the walls take on their classic character: a tree-lined promenade.

At one the first bastions there is a fine statue to Alfredo Catalani, a composer of opera who was born in Lucca. His most famous opera is apparently the wonderfully named La Wally (short for the Tragic heroine Walburga). According to a seemingly unironic entry in Wikipedia she "throws herself into an avalanche. It is seldom performed, partly because of the difficulty of staging this scene ..." It is a fine statue though, which my photo does not do complete justice to.

Further along the west side of the walls we come to the Porta San Donato, which is flanked by a pair of bastions providing cross-fire in the event of an attack.

Soon we turned into the long north side and reached a point where there is a fantastic view in towards the city. On the left is the campanile and apse of the 13th century church of San Frediano, an Irishman.

While on the right is the rear elevation, with its beautiful loggia, and gardens of the Palazzo Pfanner.

A bit further on, by the Porta San Maria, a massive street market was underway and we made a short exploratory detour. Soon we reached the east side and gained our first view of one of the things we remembered most vividly from 1997, the Torre Guinigi, a late 15th century tower with a holm oak (quercus ilex) tree mysteriously growing out of the top. We found it strangely reassuring that it was still there.

On the south wall, we passed the impressive Botanic Garden and before long came to the cathedral of San Martino. It dates from 1063, although the apse and the campanile are the only remaining parts of the original church.

As we approached the end, I looked back along another typical stretch of wall.

Conditions: warm and sunny.

Distance: 4 km.

Rating: five stars.

Pisa

View from the Ponte alla Fortezza

We are in Pisa to meet up with brother- and sister-in-law Ric and Gabriella, who are over from Canada on a lecture tour. We are staying in a hotel just by the station, so we started our walk around Pisa from there. We walked up to the Piazza Vittore Emanuale and then headed east to see the Sangallo Bastion by the river Arno. We walked round the not-very-photogenic brick fortifications to the Scotti Gardens. There was one substantial tower in the outer wall.

It was rather a low-key introduction to the city: most cities would perhaps have made more of their old fortifications - but of course Pisa has sights to trump anything so mundane. Things looked up when we first the first bridge over the river, the Ponte alla Fortezza, with lovely views down river.

We walked along the right bank to the main bridge, the Ponte de Mezzo. There has been a bridge here forever, but the present rather unispiring single reinforced concrete arch dates only from 1950. There was another fantastic view however down river. (I confess that this picture was taken two days later, when the river was calmer and the sky clearer, but the beautiful reflections justify it I think.)

We walked part way across the bridge to see the imposing Loggia di Banchi. It dates from about 1600 and once was the wool and silk market, and also housed money changers’ stalls and the cereal market.

We turned into the arcaded Borgo Stretto to soon be staggered by the facade of San Michele in Borgo, rising out of the narrow street. The facade dates from the 1300s.

Borgo Stretto leads to the Piazza Cavalier, with the imposing Palazzo Cavalieri on the right. This was rebuilt by the great art historian Giorgio Vasari at the command of Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici who had decided to found the seafaring military order of Knights of St. Stephen in 1558 and provide them with headquarters.

Just to the left is the Palazzo dell' Orologio which was created in the 17th century by linking together two medieval buildings.

Another six or seven minutes walk brought us to the edge of the Campo dei Miracoli and our first sight since we were her in 1997 of the Leaning Tower. We decided to continue with our walk and return in two days to climb it, which was not possible. It is the campanile (bell tower) of the duomo (cathedral) and was begin in 1173 and apparently started to lean even before it was completed. It was closed to visitors in 1990. The solution to prevent the collapse of the tower was to slightly straighten the tower to a safer angle, by removing soil from underneath the raised side. The tower was straightened by 45 centimeters (18 inches), returning to its 1838 position. It is still 3.9m out of the perpendicular.

Then there is the magnificent duomo. It was begun before the Tower, in 1064, and defines the Pisan Romanesque style, which we expect to see more of in Lucca tomorrow.

Finally, there is the huge separate baptistry, a feature of northern Italian cathedrals. It was started in 1152, but took two centuries to complete.

The three buildings together make an overwhelmingly wonderful group, set in a huge grassy space with walls on three sides.

We eventually dragged ourselves away and walked through the grounds of the hospital back towards the river past a nameless tower to admire a handsome alms-house building on the far bank: a 15th century Benedictine monastery.

Also on the other bank, to the right of the monastery and out of view was the church of San Paolo a Ripa d'Arno, which was apparently the site of the city's first cathedral. The current church was built ion the 13th century in the style of the duomo. The church is closed and seems abandoned; we were shocked by the bad state of repair. In front of it, also looking the worse for wear, is the 13th century chapel of Saint Agatha. I suppose when you have such riches, the second division of monuments seem unimportant.

Finally, we walked along the banks of the Arno to the exquisite little chapel of Santa Maria della Spina. It was rebuilt in 1324 in the Pisan Gothic style and moved further away from the river in 1871 for fear of flooding.

Conditions: warm and sunny.

Distance: By the time we got back to hotel we had done about 5 miles.

Rating: five stars.

Reference: As I was writing this, I stumbled on the excellent site of the Commune of Pisa which has a wealth of information on the buildings of the city, walking routes and all kinds of useful stuff.

Cortona

The Porta Santa Maria

For today's outing we have come 30 km or so south east of Arezzo to visit Cortona, which has the distinction of being one of the oldest towns in Tuscany. It is also fully surrounded by walls which date back to the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE, the Etruscan period.

We parked outside the walls and entered the city through the Porta Santa Maria, but almost immediately looked left into via Jannelli, a street which contains a group of medieval houses - among the oldest in Italy apparently - with projecting upper storeys supported on wooden braces.

We carried on up the steep via Roma to reach the small piazza della Republica, dominated by the 13th century Palazzo Communale. The tower was added in the 16th century. It is still the civic offices.

We located the Tourist Office, at the back of the nearby Palazzo Casale, now the Museo dell'Accademia Etrusca, and set forth on the best approximation would could manage to a tour of the walls.

First stop was the Duomo, a 16th century reconstruction of an earlier romanesque church.

Opposite, the diocesan museum contained a wonderful Annunciation by Fra Angelico.

We now walked along inside the walls to reach the Porta Colonia and went to admire the view from the Piazza Mazzini, just outside the walls. Cortona is at 494m and we looked across to a higher round and down to the church of Santa Maria Nuova, it dates from 1554 and was designed by Giorgio Vasari, who has been a presence throughout this holiday.

After a steep climb, we reached the next gate, the Porta Montanina. The startling thing was that as we climbed the city seemed to fall away and we passed vineyards and small fields. We gradually understood that the circuit of walls contains both a tightly built up town and its immediate hinterland. A first!

We now followed the steps of the via San Croce to climb up to the convent church of Santa Margherita.

We had seen no-one since we left Piazza Mazzini, but in front of the church there was a coach party. We did then see one or two others who had ventured forth from the centre of Cortona, but most people's experience will be of Cortona as a pleasant, typical Tuscan hill town. This is a shame when it is perhaps unique. The church is late 19th century.

Now came the final ascent - to the remains of the Medici fortress. Less well preserved than that in Arezzo, it was still a reasonably impressive sight. You could just make out Lake Trasimeno from the viewpoint at one of the corner bastions, but it was too hazy to see clearly.

We now began the long descent. First back to Santa Margarita and down the long via crucis (way of the cross) which was laid out in the late 19th century with futurist mosaics depicting the passion of Christ.

At the bottom, the path turns right to follow the long south east flank of the walls. This is one place where you can actually walk on the walls rather than beside them. The views over the plain below were very hazy.

At the bottom, we joined Via Nationale which leads back to Piazza della Republica. This has the distinction of being the only level street in the whole town. Alleys in the form of steep stairways lead off from it in both directions, up and down. This is the well-named Vicolo del Precipizio - Precipice Alley.

Conditions: 28 degrees, sunny.

Distance: 4 miles or so.

Rating: four and half stars.

Reflections

We could not help noticing the large number of American tourists in Cortona, especially in the area around the Piazza della Republica. They seemed to us to be like the parties you sometimes see off-loaded from cruise ships, wandering around seeming and sounding rather lost. We spent some time pondering what it was all about. Then we remembered the book by the American author Francis Mayes called Under the Tuscan Sun. In it she describes how, after her divorce, she buys a derelict house near Cortona and does it up. Later came Bella Tuscany, A Tuscan life, Every day in Tuscany and others. Apparently she is very popular in America.

Camaldoli

The monastery of Camaldoli

Another trip into the Casentino, where earlier in the week we saw the delightful chapel of Santa Maria della Gratie near Stia, and several other lovely places. Today's outing was more focused: to see the monastery at Camaldoli and then walk up to the hermitage a few kilometers away.

The Benedictine monastery dates from 1023 and was founded by St Romuald. As a visitor, you can see the 16th century pharmacy and two lovely cloisters: a delightful renaissance once and this stirring gothic one which you enter by descending from the main door shown in the photo above.

There is also a baroque church.

We left the monastery and followed a winding tarmac road which led up to the Hermitage. The monastery is quite high up at 850m and the hermitage appreciably higher at 1094m. Our impression was that there was a track which was criss-crossed the road as it followed a more direct - and hence steeper - route through the trees.

The woodland path was lovely in the dappled sunshine and we made good progress uphill.

In several sections there were ravines with mountains streams descending, and the sound of rushing water accompanied us most of the way.

We passed a couple of pilgrimage chapels on the way. However, after crossing and re-crossing the road several times, we made one crossing too far and headed up another path. It was waymarked, but, we later realised, not in the same way as the path we started out on. We ascended increasingly rough terrain, confident from the position of the sun that we were going in the right direction and certain we were not lost by the knowledge that the road was somewhere to our left.

Eventually we hit a level area and a path going across our line of march from right to left. We naturally headed left and, following a fine broad path, found our way to this lake. A nearby noticeboard explained that it was artificial - a monastic fish pond of the kind we have seen in Berkshire. Clearly we were nearly there!

And indeed we were. Soon we rejoined the road and reached the open area in front of the hermitage. Although quite high, it is so surrounded by trees that there is no view and very little sense of being in a high place. The hermitage was of course closed for lunch. However, we had brought a picnic which we enjoyed on a bench by the wall. Later we had a drink in the curious cafe-cum-religious-bookstore which was in the building on the right of the photo.

When we went through the gate we were struck by just how big and elaborate the hermitage was - not really what we had imagined. We saw St Romuald's cell and had a glimpse of the private area where the modern monks have their cells.

The hermitage church was an imposing building from the outside ...

... but was, shockingly to our minds, decorated in a most over-wrought baroque fashion inside. We felt there was a surprising disconnection between this ostentation and what we imagined was the simple life of prayer led by the monks.

We followed the road back down to the monastery, with the dense woods all around.
 It was much quicker than the way up!

Conditions: 28 degrees, sunny.

Distance: 4 miles or so.

Rating: three stars.


Reflections

We should probably steer clear of any building described as baroque. We always find them impossibly ornate and over the top.

On the one hand, our navigation through the woods was successful and we ended up where we intended to go. We were never exactly lost - we could always have retraced our steps to where we last left the road. On the other hand, we had no map and could easily have gone wildly astray. An exercise of skill or a lucky escape? I think I might try harder to find a suitable map next time. At  a deeper level this means discovering first what map series are available.