Lucca

The 1st of May 2023 was a rainy day we ended here in Lucca after visiting Pisa. For us it was a daytrip from the campsite in the beautiful village of Tellaro of which you'll find some photos on the subpage about Portovenere. Kurt Hielscher published two photos from here: the Duomo di San Martino and the Basilica di San Frediano to be found in Kurt Hielscher's 1925 and his 1941 photoalbum. 

Situated at the Piazza San Martino, this impressive Cathedral pops up through a quite narrow opening when you come from the Via del Duomo. This must be the moment everyone who comes here for the first time grabs his camera and takes a photo as did Kurt Hielscher almost a century ago.

Facade of the Duomo.

Construction of the Duomo began in 1060, but the decorated facades were not ready until 1241 AD. Also the campanile dates from the 13th century. Unfortunately I didn't get in, because my family was strolling around somewhere here too and I still had to rephotograph another photo in Lucca. Soon it started to rain, my cellphone emptied and I got lost while searching.   

Back side of the Duomo

Piazza Napoleone.

Statue of Giuseppe Garibaldi at the Piazza del Giglio next to the Piazza Napoleone.

Giardini di palazzo Pfanner as seen from the Via delle Mura Urbane from where Kurt Hielscher also made his photo from the Basilica di San Frediano.

Though I had prepared my visit to Lucca well, this did not mean that I found Kurt Hielscher's footsteps easily. Once I sucesfully rephotographed the Duomo, I totally went in the wrong direction heading further south, instead of north. I had to go back. Okay, it is still was only one kilometer and a few hundred meters, but it was raining and the battery of my cellphone was almost empty. Kim and the boys went for an ice-cream and I had find them back in time. 

Hence the photo is not exactly the same but a little too much to the left. Only afterwards I noticed that I should have made the photo more from the right turning the three statues on the building in front of the basilica in a straight line instead of next to each other. When I made the photo, I called Kim and I was lucky: by coincidence they were just checking out the restaurants at the famous Amphitheatre square around the corner. 

Basilica di San Frediano as seen from Piazza San Frediano. 

Basilica di San Frediano as seen from the Piazza del Collegio.

When I found my familymembers here at the famous Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, a characteristic square shaped as an ellipse, we went for dinner. 

Strolling around Lucca we found a lot of murals or maybe better said roller shutterals.

The making of.

Below: View on the famous Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, a characteristic square shaped as an ellipse. Photo: Casper Molenaar.