Buongiorno from Lucca, Tuscany's walled city and home base for our TUSCAN COUNTRYSIDE YOGA ADVENTURE. I made this short introductory video at the end of our trip this October.

While Lucca's walled history stretches all the way back to Roman times (the first of the city's walls was constructed around 200 B.C.E.), the iconic wall that still encompasses the city today is a textbook example of late-Renaissance military architecture. To learn more about the evolution of the wealthy Tuscan municipality's walls over the centuries, read Museo Galileo's informative historical entry. Then, to get a visual representation of the iterations over time, check out this graphic on a site inaugurated to commemorate the wall's 500th anniversary — where you can also take a virtual tour of the wall and browse photographs from every season.

Here's the satellite view of the historical section of Lucca enclosed by the 4 kilometers of wall.

Below, you can see the point on the path that I filmed the video — which is just south of the Duomo San Martino, by the baluardo (rampart) San Colombano.

If you find yourself here in the fair weather months, I recommend stopping in the compact but charming Orto Botanico for a stroll. You'll encounter the most gigantic Gingko Biloba I've ever seen! You might consider stopping at the Ristorante Caffetteria San Colombano for a bite or a beverage as well.

For a more complete tour-from-afar and a bit more of the history behind Lucca and its famous late-Renaissance wall, watch Rick Steves' short piece:

When you're ready to make the trip to experience Lucca for yourself..., be in touch! We'd love to invite you to join an upcoming departure of the TUSCAN COUNTRYSIDE YOGA ADVENTURE, or to work with you to plan a private trip to Tuscany.

Ciao!