A lucky day in Lucca, Part 1

Oh, how I love the sweet city of Lucca! I was lucky to go there during our recent 2 week yellow zone period and here are some of my pictures and videos. I was lucky that we in Tuscany had a 2 week yellow break from the orange zone, which we are in again now. Ugh. I hate being cooped up!

One of my first stops in the city was the church of San Michele in Foro. As the name of the church tells us, it was built over what was once the Roman era forum. Think about that for a minute.

Luckily and surprisingly, for you never can tell anymore what will be open when (thanks for nothing Covid), the church was open and I had a lovely tour around the interior. Many things caught my eye, including these bottles of holy water, for 2 Euro per bottle, just right for taking on an airplane. Ha ha.

Also, the Christmas ornaments available for sale were pretty and striking.

Next up, the church of San Frediano, which is very striking with its monumental 13th century mosaic of Christ in Ascension. This basilica has a special chapel devoted to the memory of Santa Zita, who was born in Lucca. A friend in the USA wanted pictures of this chapel and I was happy to find the basilica being opened just as I arrived. I got the pictures for my friend and thoroughly enjoyed the interior of the church. I was, as always in these days of early 2021, either alone in the building, or one of a handful. I am getting used to this and will probably be spoiled for the rest of my life, expecting to always have culture to myself.

The pictures below show the elaborate baptismal font inside San Frediano.

Here are some pictures of the overall interior and details:

The entrance wall of the church has some important frescoes:

And now we shall enter the chapel devoted to Saint Zita. The stories of her miracles are depicted in the very dark oil paintings around the chapel.

Moving in space from the sacred to the profane, did you know that Lucca has a museum devoted to the history of torture?

As I walked back to the train station to go home to Florence, I saw these signs devoted to the Via Francigena, the famed pilgrimage route that funneled travelers from all over Europe towards Rome. It passed through Lucca.