And here is Lucca with its glamours

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1PIYehcQ5o

Lucca had been the second largest Italian city state (after Venice) with a republican constitution ("comune") to remain independent over the centuries.
In 1805, Lucca was conquered by Napoleon, who installed his sister Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi as "Queen of Etruria".
After 1815 it became a Bourbon-Parma duchy, then part of Tuscany in 1847 and finally part of the Italian State.

The walls around the old town remained intact as the city expanded and modernized, unusual for cities in the region. As the walls lost their military importance, they became a pedestrian promenade which encircled the old town, although they were used for a number of years in the 20th century for racing cars. They are still fully intact today; each of the four principal sides is lined with a different tree species.
The Academy of Sciences (1584) is the most famous of several academies and libraries.
The Casa di Puccini will re-open to the public on 14 September 2011.^[6] At the nearby town of Torre del Lago, there is a Puccini opera festival every year in July/August. Puccini had a house there as well.

The Passeggiata delle Mura.

Church of San Michele of Antraccoli.

There are many richly built medieval basilica-form churches in Lucca with rich arcaded façades and campaniles, a few as old as the 8th century.

• Piazza dell'Anfiteatro
• Piazzale Verdi
• Piazza Napoleone
• Piazza San Michele
• Duomo di San Martino (St Martin's Cathedral)
• The Ducal Palace, built on the location of Castruccio Castracani's fortress. The original project was begun by Bartolomeo Ammannati in 1577–1582, and continued by Filippo Juvarra in the 18th century.
• The ancient Roman amphitheatre
• Church of San Michele in Foro
• Romanesque church of San Giusto.
• Basilica di San Frediano
• Church of Sant'Alessandro,^[7] an example of medieval classicism
• Torre delle ore ("The Clock Tower")
• Casa and Torre Guinigi - The Guinigi Tower with oak trees on top
• Museo Nazionale Guinigi
• Museo e Pinacoteca Nazionale
• Orto Botanico Comunale di Lucca, a botanical garden dating from 1820
• Palazzo Pfanner
• Villa Garzoni, noted for its water gardens.
• Church of San Giorgio in the locality of Brancoli, built in the late 12th century. It has a nave and two aisles with a single apse, and a bell tower in Lombard-Romanesque style ranked among the most beautiful in northern Italy. The interior houses a massive ambo (1194) with four columns mounted on notable sculptures of lions. Also having notable medieval decoration is the octagonal baptismal fount. The altar is supported by six small columns with human figures
• Church of San Michele, at Antraccoli. Founded in 777, it was enlarged in the 12th century and modified again in the 16th century with the introduction of a portico.
• Passeggiata delle Mura Urbane, a street all over the city on the bastions. It passes from these balconies: Santa Croce, San Frediano, San Martino, San Pietro/Battisti, San Salvatore, La Libertà/Cairoli, San Regolo, San Colombano, Santa Maria, San Paolino/Catalani, and San Donato; also pass over these gates: Porta San Donato, Porta Santa Maria, Porta San Jocopo, Porta Elisa, Porta San Pietro, and Porta Sant'Anna.
• Church of Santa Giulia, of Lombard origins, but remade in the 13th century.
• The fortified city is surrounded by the streets of: Piazzale Boccherini, Viale Lazzaro Papi, Viale Carlo Del Prete, Piazzale Martiri della Libertà, Via Batoni, Viale Agostino Marti, Viale G. Marconi (vide Guglielmo Marconi), Piazza Don A. Mei, Viale Pacini (vide Pacini), Viale Giusti, Piazza Curtatone, Piazzale Ricasoli, Viale Ricasoli, Piazza Risorgimento (vide Risorgimento) and Viale Giosuè Carducci (vide Giosuè Carducci).

Culture
Lucca is the birthplace of composers Giacomo Puccini (La Bohème and Madama Butterfly), Nicalao Dorati, Francesco Geminiani, Gioseffo Guami, Luigi Boccherini, and Alfredo Catalani. It is also the birthplace of Bruno Menconi and artist Benedetto Brandimarte.

Lucca, Piazza Anfiteatro

Museums

• National Museum of Villa Guinigi
• Museum of Villa Mansi
• Museo della Cattedrale
• Lu.C.C.A. Lucca Center of Contemporary Art
• Orto Botanico Comunale di Lucca

Lucca Amphi Theatre

Pfanner Palace

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1PIYehcQ5o

Firenze at night: a dream

I was very lucky because I was in Florence  on 25 April.  April 25th, 1945 {Festa della Liberazione} is the date which marks the day that Italy was liberated from Nazi Germany. This in addition to showing respect for the Italian resistance risking their lives fighting against both Benito Mussolini’s armies as well as the Germans. In the Tuscan hills that we so much love to gaze, write and photograph – is where so many of the resistence was forced to hide risking death upon capture.  Expect to see lots of people in the center of major Italian cities, parades and many businesses closed. The past will never be forgotten, especially not in this part of the world.

The Ponte Vecchio (old bridge), built in 1345, was Florence's first bridge across the Arno River and is the only surviving bridge from Florence's medieval days (others were destroyed in World War II). The Ponte Vecchio is still lined with shops selling gold and silver jewelry. From the bridge, you'll have a great view along the Arno River and beyond

Resim yazısı ekle

Resim yazısı ekleFlorence's most famous square is Piazza della Signoria, the heart of the historic center and a free open-air sculpture exhibit. The Loggia della Signoria holds some important statues including a copy of Michelangelo's David. The piazza has been Florence's political center since the middle ages and Florence's town hall, the medieval Palazzo Vecchio, sits on the piazza. The palazzo contains elaborately decorated public rooms and private apartments that can be visited (Visiting Information). Around the piazza are cafes and restaurants.