Le Mura di Lucca (City Walls)
Four kilometres of Renaissance wall ring the old city of Lucca like a wide green terrace, and the top of it is a public promenade — flat, tree-lined, wide enough for two cyclists to pass without drama. Locals walk dogs here in the early morning. Children ride bikes while grandparents follow at their own pace. The wall is not a ruin you admire from below; it is a working part of daily life, and you walk it the same way the Lucchesi do.
At 30 metres wide at the base and reinforced by 11 bastions, this is the second-largest intact Renaissance city wall in the world, after Nicosia in Cyprus. It was never tested in battle.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who come back tend to time the circuit for early evening, when the light drops below the tree canopy and the city sounds soften. The stretch between Baluardo San Frediano — the oldest bastion, and the only rectangular one — and Porta Santa Maria is the least crowded at that hour. Rent a tandem near Porta San Pietro if you want to cover the full loop in under half an hour.
The story behind Le Mura di Lucca (City Walls)
Lucca has had walls since 180 BC, when Rome established a colony here. Medieval fortifications followed, then towers and moats as the city grew along the Via Francigena pilgrimage route. The walls you walk today were a different proposition entirely: on 7 May 1504 the Republic of Lucca issued the decree that would define them, with active construction beginning around 1544–1545. The Republic was watching Florence — soon to become a Grand Duchy — with considerable anxiety, and the walls were built as a deterrent. They took over a century to complete, finished in 1648 with updates through the late 1600s.
The architects came from across Italy: Jacopo Seghizzi from Modena, Baldassarre Lanci and Francesco Paciotto from Urbino, Alessandro Resta from Milan. The only local among them was Vincenzo Civitali. The walls never saw military action, though in 1812 they held back floodwaters from the River Serchio, all six gates closed against the surge. In the nineteenth century, Duchess Maria Luisa commissioned architect Lorenzo Nottolini to plant the tree-lined avenue that still runs the full circuit today.
Good to know
Free, open 24 hours, no tickets. Porta San Pietro is about 300 metres from the train station. Ramps at the main gates make the full circuit accessible by wheelchair, pushchair or bike. Avoid summer midday heat; September is mild and quieter. Skip trying to climb the grassy slopes bordering the bastions — it's not permitted.
Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons for the circuit — mild temperatures and low humidity. Summer mornings are pleasant; midday in July and August can be hot on the exposed sections, so an early start matters. The walls are worth a winter visit too, when the avenue is bare and the views into the city are clearer.
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What travellers say about Le Mura di Lucca (City Walls)
While it is delightful anytime to walk the 2.6 miles walls of Lucca, Autumn is special, with the chestnuts falling and the leaves changing color. This path, suitable for pedestrians and casual cyclists offers elevated inside and outside the city - there are even a couple of reataurants. Highly recommend this resbit from the crowds.
Lovely shady walk with beautiful views all across the city and the surrounding countryside. About 5km walk in total with lots of exit and entry points.
The wall is magnificent and well organized and maintained, I enjoyed the stroll and it made me happy mentally and physically.
Very unique place of the walled city of Lucca. Its almost whole round walkable on the top of the walls or street inside the walls. Plenty of trees, walkways are suitable for jogging and fitness exercises and walking of the locals. very calm green place. From the walls you can see the old city and also outside, small water channels under the wall. All around are about 11 bastions and couple of gates to the city. The wall is 4 km long and is among the best preserved Renaissance fortifications in Europe, and the second largest intact example of a fully walled Renaissance city after Nicosia on Cyprus.
We used the ramp at Porta di San Pietro to take a one-hour stroll anticlockwise along the wall. The views of the old city on one side and of the Lucca hills and Apuan Alps on the other are charming and inspiring. Due to lack of time we were not able to walk the entire length (4.4 km) of the wall, but the segment we did, was organized as a usual public park. The park would benefit of informative panels that could provide visitors with historical context and details on the surrounding area.
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