With the arrival of Napoleon's sister, Princess Elisa, who governed Lucca from 1805 to 1814, the demilitarisation of the Walls accelerated.
One of her dispositions, already on June 13, 1807, allowed people to freely leave the city at night and, for the months from May to September, authorised 'il passeggio' (promenade) on the Walls in the stretch between San Pietro and San Donato gates until the sound of 11 o'clock at night.
Just eight days after the decree, an enterprising café keeper from Lucca was authorized to open a café on the 'bastion known as Cittadella', 'equipped with refreshments' like 'those that are used in France'.

In his diary, Abbot Chelini got offended with this 'sovereign decree' that allowed 'youth of both sexes... to refresh themselves with ice-cold water and sorbets of all kinds'. 
The princess also allocated San Martino bastion to the 100 Merino sheep brought from Spain and housed 'in the shed that before used to hold bronze cannons'. The reduction of the parapet to give a view of the countryside, the placement of seats and, in 1811, the opening of the new gate that still bears Elisa's name, completed the transformation of the Walls.