Mercato di Piazza San Michele
Every morning except Sunday, the medieval square beneath the soaring façade of San Michele in Foro fills with stalls selling local Garfagnana farro, fresh porcini, aged Pecorino and bunches of seasonal vegetables brought in from the surrounding Lucchesia plain. It is the most honest snapshot of how Lucchesi actually eat.
What to Buy and Who to Talk To
Look for vendors selling farro della Garfagnana IGP — the nutty, ancient grain grown in the mountains north of Lucca that has been cultivated here since Roman times. It makes a revelatory soup.
The cheese stalls carry Pecorino Toscano DOP at various stages of aging; ask for stagionato (aged) if you want something sharp enough to eat with a drizzle of local chestnut honey.
A few stalls specialise in lardo di Colonnata — the silky cured fatback from the Apuan marble quarry town — sold in thin, translucent slices perfect for wrapping around a piece of warm bread.
The Square Itself Is the Attraction
San Michele in Foro occupies the exact footprint of the ancient Roman forum, and the church's extravagant Pisan-Romanesque façade — four tiers of twisted columns and blind arcading — towers over the vegetable stalls like a theatrical backdrop.
Even if you buy nothing, the sensory contrast of medieval stone, shouting vendors and the smell of ripe tomatoes makes this one of the most photogenic market scenes in Tuscany.
The market winds down by around 1 pm, so aim to arrive between 9 and 11 am for the fullest stalls and the best light on the church façade.
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