It was nice to visit another quiet town while we were in Tuscany. We spent a morning in Lucca. We got there fairly early and the streets were quiet. We could walk down the street without bumping into people and look into the windows of the shops.
We stopped for a while in the Piazza della Cittadella. Giacomo Piccini, the opera composer (notable works include La Boheme and Madame Butterfly), was born in a home in the far right corner. There’s a statue of him on the other side of the piazza.
Our 8th church to see was the San Michele in Foro.
Built in the 8th century and renovated in 1070. St. Davino Armeno is buried under the cross from the 11th century.
The Torre Guinigi (the red tower in the back) was built in the 14th century and is famous for the trees that grow on top. Since we were having a big dinner that night Brett and I opted for a quick snack for lunch and spend the free time wandering the streets instead of sitting in a restaurant. We stopped in a local market to get some fruit and they had a case with home made pasta salads and those great arancini rice balls so we got that instead and ate on a bench while watching the locals go about their day.
We spent the afternoon in Pisa. We entered through the Lion’s Gate wall, built in the 12th century.
The Battistero di San Giovanni is the largest baptistery in Italy and was completed in 1363. There is a statue of St. John the Baptist in the center. There was a lot of scaffolding around the sides so I didn’t take a lot of pictures in here. Since it’s built on the same land as the Tower it also leans but only slightly.
Our 9th church to visit was the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary, completed in 1092. We spent quite a bit of time in here looking at all of the details. It was jaw dropping. There were several alters besides the main one and each one was amazing. The ceiling in front of the main alter (last shot) had stairs up high that led to a secret door. St. Rainerius is buried here (in the glass coffin in the 2nd to last shot) in 1689. Also buried here is Pope Gregory VIII and Holy Emperor Henry VII in 1315.
An obligatory shot of the Leaning Tower.
Caper plants were growing wild all along the outer wall.
We passed by the village of Collodi, birthplace of the author of Pinocchio on the way to dinner.
We had a cooking class and dinner at a Tuscan winery and farm in Montecarlo, near Lucca. After learning to make ragu and pasta, we toured the vineyard and then had a wonderful long dinner with many courses and wine.
Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) at Image-In-Ing.
