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(0)Katrina Grant, ‘The Gardens of Lucca’
The city of Lucca is built upon a plain, and the villas surround the city across the colline di Lucca (the hills of Lucca), hence forming the crown described by Leonardi:
Beautiful, and sweet it is to see those slopes
All strewn, at the feet, in the middle, to the heights
With delightful rural abodes
Of every grandness, and elegance, and so many that
I cannot number them, and
They place Lucca in the centre,
above which is a vast circle
that makes for this city a noble crown
Which interposes woody valleys and avenues
Little forests, woods of nature and of art
And of the age marvellous work
And kitchen gardens always green, and full of flowers
And well ordered vineyards, and thick groves
And silver-plated olive. (Cristofano Martelli-Leonardi)
Lucca began as an Etruscan city, then was made a Roman colony from 180 BC, and in the twelfth century became an independent commune. ...
... Although Lucca was somewhat off the beaten track, a number of travellers throughout the centuries did make their way there and the accounts which they left us convey the beauty of the city and its villas. ...
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