- Show trip
- Add to bucket listRemove from bucket list
- Share
- Sep 17, 2023, 5:14pm
- ☁️ 29 °C
- Altitude: 34 m
- ItalyTuscanyLuccaPraetorian Palace43°50’35” N 10°30’5” E
Tourist day in Lucca
September 17, 2023 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
I got back from my early morning walk at about 9:15, and based on Joe’s response, I was not too optimistic about how our day would unfold. But two cappuccinos and a big breakfast later, he was ready to go.
The cathedral visit, and seeing the archaeological excavation under San Giovanni, were both top notch. All these layers, and bits and pieces of each layer remain, going back to the Romans from about 2 C BC. It was fun to climb around the sub-church layer, where archaelogists had identified the villa, the early Christian church, the Baptistery, and even a 12 C church destroyed later that century to make way for the current church. I climbed the two bell towers while Joe waited patiently. The Cathedral has an 8 C Volto Santo, which is a wooden crucifixion that comes with the tradition/legend that it was carved by Nicodemus shortly after the Resurrection. Carbon dating disproves that theory, but it has been confirmed as being from the 700s. They are currently doing serious renovation work on the cross and figure of Christ, so it is not hanging in its chapel. But the work space is glass-enclosed, so you can watch the work when it’s in process.
After the cathedral and church, we found ourselves on the 16-17 C walls that surround the city. They replaced the original Roman walls, and the later medieval walls, expanding the perimeter of the city as they went. This is now an absolutely wonderful 5 km Via Verde - lots of bikes and carts and walkers on a shaded path that has multiple access points within and without the walls. Joe and I walked about 3 km on the path, and I’ve walked the whole circle twice by myself — once in early morning and once when Joe went to take his nap.
Since we hadn’t eaten any lunch, our last pre-nap stop was at a café outside one of my favorite churches - San Frediano, with a white marble facade (brought over from the Roman amphitheater) and 12C mosaics on top.
We’re doing a zoom baby shower for my niece and her husband in a few hours, and I will be there!Read more
Traveler Do I see a Roman soldier decapitating a bishop on this sarcophagus or reliquary? Whose body or relics are in it? It is a stunning piece, despite the graphic violence.
Laurie Reynolds It’s a 13C Limoges reliquary and has a relic of st. Thomas Beckett. The scene depicts his murder. There’s a similar one in Leon in the pantheon of San Isidoro that I love. https://www.museosanisidorodeleon.com/en/the-tr…. ive seen one somewhere else but i cant remember where.
Traveler I looked up this English saint whom I hadn't heard of: an Archbishop of Canterbury, murdered by the followers of the king. The San Isidoro reliquary: gorgeous.