Walls of Barga

Barga stands right above an alluvial plain known as Pian Grande and crossed by two torrents. The town originally had three gates, but today only two remain, the Porta Reale and the Porta Macchiaia; they both have guardhouses and open towards Piazza del Fosso, so called because of the moat that used to surround the walls. The historic town centre lies at the foot of a fortified hillock known as Arringo, Barga's small Acropolis: here a large open space surrounded by high walls contains the Romanesque duomo of St. Christopher and the Palazzo Pretorio. The walls which are made of roughly hewn local stone are vertical and crowned in some portions by patrol balconies projecting inwards. Barga played a role as political centre of the Medici within the Serchio valley and controlled one of the main river crossings along the valley floor, in historical times an important route of communication in a politically complex environment divided between Lucca and the Dukes of Este.