THE ROMAN WALLS (180 BC-12th/13th CENTURY)

THE ROMAN WALLS (180 BC-12th/13th CENTURY)

Founded in 180 BC as a colony under Latin law on the ruins of an older settlement, Lucca soon built its own city walls. This defensive structure, constructed of massive limestone blocks and imposing for its time (reaching 6-8 meters in height and 2-3 meters in thickness), did not follow the classic, perfectly square plan of Roman military fortifications. Its shape, in fact, was dictated by the need to adapt to the Auser River, whose branches almost entirely surrounded the town. For this reason, the northern section of the walls curved along the bend of the river, while to the northwest, a large rectangular spur filled the space left by another bend. Reinforcing the perimeter, in addition to the four access gates, were several square-plan watchtowers. The image shows us how the city looked around 180 AD. At that time, the Auser River had already been diverted further north to stem its torrential flow, which caused constant flooding. This first, mighty Roman wall protected Lucca for centuries, until the 12th century, when it was replaced by the new municipal walls. Having lost their military function, the ancient walls were transformed into an open-air quarry for building materials, while some of the towers were incorporated into the urban fabric and sold to private citizens.

THE MEDIEVAL WALLS (12th/13th CENTURY-16th CENTURY)

THE MEDIEVAL WALLS (12th/13th CENTURY-16th CENTURY)

Lucca's medieval walls represent the city's second great urban enclosure, built between the 11th and 13th centuries to replace and expand the Roman perimeter. Although they are now almost completely incorporated or disappeared, their shape, gates, and towers can be reconstructed thanks to historical sources and the still visible remains. This image takes us back to the golden age of the Republic of Lucca, testifying to the grandeur of its medieval walls. Built between 1198 and 1265 to protect a rapidly expanding city—enriched by the thriving silk trade and bustling with pilgrims on the Via Francigena—the "Second Circle" eventually enclosed an urban area of ​​75 hectares. Unlike the later and more famous Renaissance bastions, 13th-century defensive architecture favored vertical thrust. As evidenced by the surviving structures, the curtain walls were tall and thin (up to 12 meters) to facilitate a "plunging" defense from above. Observing the construction, the clever contrast of materials stands out: the external facing in solid limestone, designed to withstand sieges, is reinforced internally by a brick structure, the perfect combination of stability and speed of execution.
The perimeter was strategically defended by circular and semicircular towers—an ingenious design to deflect artillery fire and eliminate blind spots—and monumental gates, such as Porta San Gervasio and Porta dei Borghi. The latter, flanked by imposing horseshoe-shaped towers, were not only impassable military complexes, but veritable triumphal entrances celebrating the power, art, and civilization of the Lucca state.

THE RENAISSANCE WALLS

THE RENAISSANCE WALLS

Lucca's Renaissance walls represent one of the greatest masterpieces of European military engineering, a ring of stone and earth that has defined the city's identity for over five centuries. Built between 1544 and 1645, they were conceived as an imposing system of brick-lined embankments, designed to absorb the kinetic energy of artillery fire. The structure extends along a perimeter of approximately
4.223 meters, resting on a colossal 30-meter-wide base that rises approximately 12 meters above the moat, enclosing a core of over two million cubic meters of compacted earth. The perimeter wall is marked by ten bastions and a platform: these brick giants house the "sorties": large vaulted tunnels once used for troop movement and munitions storage, now evocative pedestrian passages between the city and the outside. The continuity of the perimeter is interrupted only by the three original Renaissance gates: Porta San Pietro, Porta Santa Maria, and Porta San Donato. These were joined by Porta Elisa, built during the Napoleonic era, and the twentieth-century Porta Sant'Anna and Porta San Jacopo. Although never besieged, the walls protected the city from the flood of 1812 before undergoing a radical transformation under Maria Luisa of Bourbon. In the 19th century, the top of the fortification was converted into a tree-lined avenue, transforming the ancient defensive apparatus into an iconic hanging garden that today combines historical rigor with the natural beauty of the Tuscan landscape.

LUCCA IN THE 19TH CENTURY

LUCCA IN THE 19TH CENTURY

This fascinating 1849 print opens like a window into Lucca's past, suspended between its ancient soul and impending modernity. Through a detailed bird's-eye perspective, the image captures the entire urban center enclosed within its iconic Renaissance walls, where the dense network of rooftops is punctuated by the unmistakable silhouettes of medieval towers. All around, the broad green terraces retain their original function of visual control, clearly separating the monumental city from the surrounding plain. However, the element that breaks the view's historical immobility is located below: the dynamic presence of a steam train puffing white smoke along the tracks. This is the Lucca-Pisa line, inaugurated in 1846, a detail that transforms the work from a simple landscape view into an exceptional historical document. At the time, this line was proudly considered Italy's first international railway, as it spanned the border between two sovereign states: the Republic of Lucca and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. The visual contrast between the massive static nature of the sixteenth-century walls and the movement of the locomotive succinctly captures the passing of an era, celebrating an infrastructure that, even before the unification of Italy, was already bridging the gap between peoples.

THE GOOD GUARD

THE GOOD GUARD

Once the construction of the walls had begun, the need arose to organize their defense.

The Republic of Lucca was called upon to undertake a very demanding task that required both men and resources: the walls were a sensitive part of the defensive system and were subject to military regulations. To oversee the various operations, a specific operational structure was established: the Office of the Good Guard, which operated from October 1446 until December 1800.

It was up to the Elders, the supreme executive body of the Republic, to select the men for the most delicate tasks in the defense of the city: the Commissioners of the Gates and the Bastions.

The selection rules were stringent: the Commissioners, two for each Gate, had to be citizens of Lucca for at least two generations, had to be able to read and write and be between thirty and sixty years old.

IL CASTELLANO

IL CASTELLANO

Each gate had a castellan who was never absent from the building above it, known as the castle. He was responsible for guarding the weapons and controlling the movement of the drawbridge. He also maintained contact with the soldiers stationed outside the walls, who reported back each morning on the progress of the nightly patrol.

The Castellan also had to be able to read and write and had to have a guarantor for the sum of fifty scudi, required as security for the arquebuses and other ammunition entrusted to him.

He could only leave the castle to attend religious services on prescribed days.

Two ropes and perpetual banishment from all offices of the Republic were the punishment for the Castellan who admitted a person at night without the necessary identification and pass. If the intruder was a foreigner, the Castellan risked having his head cut off.

THE GUARD CORPS

THE GUARD CORPS

Each gate was assigned a guard corps of thirty armed men. They had different roles: sergeant, standard-bearer, broken lance, drummer, and chancellor. All city residents aged 35 and under 60 were eligible to become soldiers. Both they and their fathers had to be born within the territory of the Republic.

Soldiers were required to possess the weapons necessary for service: the arquebus, the morion (military helmet) and the flask, while gunpowder was supplied to them at a discounted price.

All the soldiers were mobilized during the night and in fact had to spend the night at the Casaccia located near the Government Palace, from where in the morning they left in groups to go and open the Gates.

It was strictly forbidden to play any prohibited game in the said room, nor to seduce or allow any woman to enter, either day or night.

In Lucca at the time, games of cards and dice were very popular, and among those who played them most were the soldiers in charge of guarding the Gates.

Their day included long periods of substantial inactivity that were filled by playing cards or dice.

THE SHUTTER

SAN DONATO GATE ROLLER DOOR HANDLING SYSTEM

In the Renaissance fortifications of the 16th and 17th centuries, the opening of the wooden portcullis or “cataracts” was entrusted to complex mechanical systems located in the control room above the doorway.

The Winch or Winch
The central element was a large horizontal wooden axis, around which the ropes or chains connected to the portcullis were wrapped.

Pulley and Counterweight Systems used since the 17th century
To balance the enormous weight of the grate (which could exceed 150-200 kg even for medium-sized doors), the authors often included counterweights.
These slid into special vertical spaces inside the wall, drastically reducing the force required to keep the portcullis in the raised position.
This system was also present in Porta San Donato, where we are now.

Safety and Quick Release Devices

In case of emergency, the system had to allow instant closing through a release mechanism: the winch was equipped with a locking mechanism that could be quickly disengaged, allowing the shutter to fall by gravity.
The base of the portcullis was often reinforced with metal spikes to maximize the impact and drive it into the ground, preventing it from being lifted from the outside.

THE GIANT IMPRISONED IN THE WALLS OF LUCCA

THE GIANT IMPRISONED IN THE WALLS OF LUCCA

Throughout its republican history, Lucca had never seen monumental sculptures dedicated to heroes and figures of public importance erected in its squares and open-air spaces. Only after the fall of the republic in 1799 with the arrival of Napoleon and subsequent governments did each government seek to assert its image of power with statues commemorating its leaders.

The San Paolino bastion, along with the bastions of Liberty, San Regolo, and Santa Maria, thus saw the erection of the "first wave" of busts and statues. But it was from 1918 to 1934 that Lucca experienced its second and greatest "wave," seeing the construction, one after another, of more monuments than it had ever seen in five centuries.

During the Fascist era, a monument to the Fascist Martyrs was erected on the San Paolino bastion, following the removal of the statue known as "Il Carlaccio," now housed in the Guinigi Museum. It was the first in a long series of monuments in Lucca, all of which were "incredibly" commissioned from the same Lucca-born sculptor Francesco Petroni (Lucca 1878–1960), who in 1900 had created a commemorative bronze plaque in memory of the musician Alfredo Catalani, located on Via Santa Giustina.

In 1907, Petroni then requested and obtained from the municipality of Lucca permission to use the castle of Porta San Donato, where we stand today, as his studio and sculpture workshop. He even modified the original structure by opening a huge new window to let in light. Today, we can still admire the life-size plaster cast of a new monument to the Lucca musician Alfredo Catalani, commissioned by the municipality in 1945.

The creation of this enormous sculpture had a long, painful and troubled history.
Consider that as early as 1919, after the commemorative plaque was unveiled, the Società Musicale Lucchese, through its own committee, had been working to raise funds for the casting of a bronze statue in memory of the illustrious Lucca musician. Due to the intervening war events and other bureaucratic and financial difficulties facing the committee, the statue was finally completed, thanks in part to contributions from citizens living abroad, "Lucchesi nel mondo," and was inaugurated on September 19, 1954.
Nowadays the monument appears in all its monumentality, also thanks to the arrangement of the new trees, at the centre of the San Paolino bastion.

Thanks to the Lucca Photographic Archive of the Municipality of Lucca “Arnaldo Fazzi – Ettore Cortopassi Fund”

THE MIRACLE OF SAINT PAULINUS

For centuries, July 12th, the feast of San Paolino, patron saint of Lucca, has been celebrated with particular intensity: the culmination of the celebrations is a solemn mass and the firing of artillery salvos.

On July 12, 1664, the celebrations nearly ended in tragedy. Due to the negligence of the bombardiers, a cannon loaded with shells struck the bridge, where many people from the countryside were passing. The shells struck four people, who were unharmed. A large crowd of Luccans witnessed the scene, and it was immediately hailed as a miracle.

Saint Paulinus surrounded by angels is depicted in the act of exercising his protection: from his eyes shine the beneficial rays that stop the balls fired from the cannon placed on the San Donato bastion.

The painting provides a cinematic representation of the event, bringing together a dense array of characters who took part or witnessed it. This allows us to grasp the turbulent dynamic that characterized that fateful moment.

The description of the parade ground where the disaster is being prepared is precise and careful: the central cannon has just fired and is surrounded by a large group of bombers assigned to its operation.

For that shot, the entire Bombardier corps was accused and the General Council decided to purge them because they were too punctual not in their service, but in collecting their wages.

All 225 bombers were required to undergo a rigorous new examination to remain in service.

The scene highlights the moment when two bombers rush to inform the Commander of the disaster. A thorough investigation was immediately launched, which brought unpleasant surprises to the Lucca government.

The report revealed not only the incompetence of the bombardiers but also the inefficiency of the artillery entrusted with Lucca's defense: old, worn cannons, and at risk of explosion. These results called them to account: the government would have to admit that it had underestimated the gravity of the situation and left its city defenseless.

Saint Paulinus came to their aid with his miracle, which was officially recognized by the Episcopal Vicar as early as August 8, 1664.

The scene is completed by various figures participating in the patronal festival: on the bridge, people entering and leaving the city, soldiers on guard on the walls, young people having fun, and a group of men playing dice.

The painting also offers a remarkably faithful representation of the city walls and the external earth fortifications that provided the city's primary defense. A historical hoax is also noted, represented by the two marble statues located at the top of the gate. Their creation was decided by the government two years later to express gratitude to the two patron saints, Paulinus and Donatus, for the miracle of July 12, 1664. The statues are the work of the sculptor Giovanni Lazzoni of Carrara.