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On Wednesday we hopped in
the Fiat and drove west to visit Lucca and Pisa. |
| The old part of Lucca is a classic
Medieval Town completely surrounded by well maintained 16th Century
walls. |
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We'd honestly never heard of Lucca until
we started planning the trip. Various people we spoke with who had
been highly recommended it.
We did learn that it is a center for
jewelry making as well as the source for those Tuscan cigars I became
fond of during the trip. |
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< As with everywhere we went in
Italy, it seemed there were architectural details that grabbed the eye.
This door knocker was on a building across the street from the gate
where we entered Lucca's old town.
This open shutter and the petunias in the
window was another one of those images that just begged to be
photographed. > |
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| On the Piazza Napoleone in the center of
town we stumbled > upon this carousel. |
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| The Amfiteatro Romano is a piazza built
on the site of an old Roman arena. |
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These marble fruits were displayed in the
window of a gallery off of the Amfiteatro Romano. |
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| San Michele in Forno stands on the site
of an old Roman forum. Note the many different columns on the
facade. |
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San Giovanni is a little church that sits
just in front and to the side of the Duomo di San Martino |
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San Fredano holds the mummified body of
St. Zita. The exterior is deocrated with this mosaic. |
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< Lucca's main church is the
Duomo of San Martino. It's one of the more interesting churches
because of it's assymetrical design and the fact that the bell tower was
never completely faced in marble.
Here's a detail from the front facade of
San Martino. > |
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| Pisa was a bit of a surprise
to us. We weren't really prepared for the carnival like atmosphere
surrounding the site of the Duomo, the Baptistery and the Tower.
And we weren't prepared for the stunning beauty of those buildings and
the fact they could maintain their elegance even amidst the ultra
touristy hub-bub that flows over the Campo dei Miracoli. |
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Following the hordes of tourists being
guided through the maze of souvenir stands, this was the first glimpse
we got of the Torre Pendente and il Duomo. |
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The Baptistery marks the transition from
Romanesque to Gothic architecture. Even with the on going
restoration work, it is a stunning building. |
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| No matter how many pictures you may have
seen of the Leaning Tower, nothing beats being there and walking around
to view it from all angles.
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The scale and physical placement of the
buildings on the Campo dei Miracoli is nothing short of elegant.
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| Details from the facade of Pisa's Duomo.
The carving and mosaic work is astonishing. |
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