The Walls of Lucca Celebrate 500 Years

Lucca is celebrating 500 years of its magnificent Renaissance walls. These wide low walls that were built to resist cannon fire were never needed to protect its citizens from invaders but did protect the city in 1812 from flood when the Serchio River burst its banks. The walls make Lucca a very special and unique city. They keep this architectural gem of a city safe and provide its modern citizens with a wonderful jogging and cycling circuit. The weekend of 5th  and 6th October was billed as the big celebration weekend. The council organised a Notte Bianca with museums open free and the piazzas filled with music. However the weather had different ideas and the Saturday celebrations can only be described as a damp squid.  The early hours of Saturday were hailed in by a great storm named Penelope. The highlight was to be the closing of one of the great gates to the city and then the re-opening on Sunday.  

 

Most of the events were cancelled including the closing of the gates which in humble opinion should have gone ahead in some form as several hundred of us waited in the rain. Queen Elizabeth II after all at 87 managed to stand in the pouring rain for her Golden Jubilee!

Sunday the Gods had changed their mood and the cloudless sky hailed a glorious day. However the events had already been cancelled but the ceremony of opening the gates did go ahead. I didn’t arrive in time to see them closing them!

 

 

It was a strange feeling to see the great doors of Porta Santa Maria Closed and I had a strange feeling of claustrophobia, which made no sense, as the whole idea was to protect the populace. Anyway the flag throwers performed to the sound of the drums, trumpets sounded the cannons fired showing Lucca had returned to her glory for all of us to enjoy on a magnificent sunny Sunday.