Lucca is a city with a few exceptions that make it special. Once you arrive in the central square, which has been the heart of the city since Roman times, where everything began in 180 BC, the church before you is not the Duomo, as you might expect, but the Church of San Michele, without any other name. Then, after wandering and losing yourself among the narrow, shady streets, the Cathedral appears, with its distinctive portico and a knight cutting his cloak, suggesting it's San Martino, and thus it's easy to assume the generous Roman soldier is the city's patron saint, but that's not the case.

A house for two

The patron saint of the Republic of Lucca is the least known, Saint Paulinus. There is no reliable information about the life, much less the existence, of this first bishop who, according to legend, was sent by Saint Peter himself to convert the people of Lucca. It was the time of Nero and the Christian persecutions, and the young Paulinus died a martyr. The current church, with its linear white limestone façade, stands in the western part of the city. It was rebuilt in early 1515 and remains today as the city's only Renaissance church.

It is not in reality the “home” only of the patron saint Paolino, but also of San Donato, who was left homeless when the outer village was demolished to build the new Renaissance city walls with the Tagliata plan and therefore the opportunity was taken to commission the Florentine Baccio da Montelupo to build a house for two.

The fact is that few people know about this double title, and what further confuses us are the statues on the facade. They almost seem like twins. Who is who? Is it Saint Paulinus on the right, with his hand on his chest and his gaze turned skyward, and Saint Donatus on the left, pointing outward, almost as if to indicate his origins outside the walls?

The two bishops also form a "fixed pair" above the gate in the walls, known simply as Porta San Donato, one of the three original gates. In this case, San Paolino is easily recognizable because he is accompanied by a cherub holding a miniature walled-up Lucca.

Crossbows and cannons between past and present

The celebrations of the patron saint have always been an important part of a city's life. In Lucca, the so-called Days of San Paolino have been celebrated since the Middle Ages. With parades, concerts, exhibitions, religious celebrations, and luminaries, they culminate with the day of the Palio, which falls on July 12th. And here we are again with the exception: instead of contrade, the districts (San Martino, San Paolino, and San Salvatore) compete, not in a horse race, but rather in a crossbow challenge.

These highly skilled men, and even a few women in the style of Joan of Arc, still compete today according to the ancient Ordo Pro Balistarii, the rules that require each archer to shoot his ring, signed with his name, at a target called a wheel or sign, placed 36 meters away. His medieval sniper aim must aim the arrow as close as possible to the center, that is, the jug. It may seem obvious, but this is where the expression, perhaps a little Tuscan, "averla ibboccata" (to have hit the mark) comes from...

Bishop Paolino's sanctity, however, was revealed many years after his death, as recently as the mid-1600s, when, during the celebrations for the patron saint, one of the planned and most attended events was the Gazzarra delle Artiglierie (Artillery Revelry). Citizens gathered on the walls, on the San Donato bastion, and cannons loaded with blanks fired to create smoke and noise. Unfortunately, some bombardier made a mistake, and the cannon was actually loaded, and its explosion could have hit the entire crowd. But then, Saint Paolino descended from heaven and averted the massacre. The canvas by the Lucca painter Gian Domenico Lombardi, preserved in the Church of San Paolino, is a clear and interesting depiction of the miracle.

It is clear that the Elders of the Republic justified the event as a prodigious event both to make the citizens believe that the Patron Saint watched over Lucca at all times, and to demonstrate to their enemies that tragedy had been narrowly avoided, precisely because the city had divine protection that made it stronger.

There is obviously the technical-scientific explanation of a bullet with a degraded powder charge, but this takes away the charm of the story and of the time when people relied more on hope and faith.

In fact, in 1631, the relics of San Paolino were paraded along the walls and the 160 cannons were fired with a racket that even the Pisans heard, who joined the Lucchese, for once, in the prayer that celebrated the end of the plague.