The territory of Lucca
Information
District/Location:
Lucca
District:
Piana di Lucca
The hills surrounding Lucca are of exceptional beauty, not only for their woods and fertile slopes covered with vines and olive groves, but also because in the whole area are scattered medieval villages, ruins of castles, towers and fortifications that tell its history; a history of struggle for land, battles and plundering. It is often difficult to reach the sites with the remains of fortifications, both because of the lack of signposts and because the vegetation has gained the upper hand; the charm of these places is, however, enough to make those who have been there once desire to return.
Lucca
Castle of Aquilea
The hills to the north of Lucca are of great beauty not only for the villages that can be seen scattered here and there or for the geometric terraces with vineyards and olive groves, but also for the panorama they offer. Aquilea is placed on one of these hills. After the village the road, in some parts a dirt road, becomes steeper as it climbs among the broom thickets that confer a particular light to the remains of the church of the ancient, now unfortunately completely destroyed, castle. From its hilltop position the castle controlled the plain of Lucca to the south and the slopes in the middle valley of the Serchio to the north.
The site was certainly inhabited since the Early Middle Ages and perhaps, as has been suggested, in ancient times, Etruscan or at least Roman. The castle is first mentioned in 1073, but there was probably some kind of fort before the year 1000. In the time of communes, thanks to its exceptional position, it continued to guard the Serchio Valley and the Plain. Later it lost its strategic role and was abandoned. In the middle of the last century its considerable remains could still largely be appreciated: the exceptional field of vision that had determined the success of the castle, however, was also its undoing: the site was bombed in 1944 by the allies in an attempt to destroy German artillery positions. Today we can see some traces of walls and debris that cannot be identified with any particular structure. On the south of the hill, just outside the walls, are the evocative remains of the Romanesque S. Lorenzo church, the castle's ancient chapel. Mentioned since 1185, it was actually built in the XIth-XIIth century and unfortunately also seriously damaged during the last war. Conceived as a room with an apse and built upon a massive structure, it still preserves intact its beautiful façade with an elegant portal surmounted by an architrave and completed by a lunette. To the east, next to the church, we can still see the bell tower.
Castle of Pontetetto
The castle of Pontetetto was composed of several connected structures that played a role in guarding and defending the bridge on the Ozzeri and the road between Lucca and Pisa. It was certainly still standing in the second half of the XIVth century, but today nothing remains of the fortified complex and it is not even possible to advance any sound hypothesis as to where it originally stood. Since the Middle Ages roads and contours have changed places and only the survival of settlements might indeed suggest that it once stood where today we still find a bridge.
The castle is faithfully reproduced among the pictures accompanying the Chronicles of Giovanni Sercambi, written in the first decades of the XVth century.
On the basis of this picture, which we have good reason to consider reliable down to its very details, we can say that the main nucleus of the castle lay near the north bank of the Ozzeri - the ancient Auser - and was dominated by a high rectangular donjon crowned by protruding corbels and swallow-tailed crenels. The entrance to the tower was, as usual, above ground level and wide ribbed windows could be found below the last floor. It is not clear how this tower, which had a kind of rampart protecting it, was connected to the proper structure of the fortified bridge, itself not so easy to interpret. From the picture in the Chronicles we guess that there was a composite construction at the head of the bridge with two parallel crenelled curtains, at the end of which were drawbridges operated by a mechanism of weights. However it is not clear if this was indeed the cassero of the fort or rather a simpler way of creating a sort of forced passage guarded by the donjon. At any rate, beyond the southern drawbridge (the one opposite the tower), there was the bridge proper: made of stone and much like the former construction though, apparently, smaller in its proportions, the bridge crossed the canal by means of two arches, without, however, reaching the further bank: instead, there was an island in the river connected to the further bank by another drawbridge.
Castle of Piazza di Brancoli
Turning off the 'Statale del Brennero 12th' at Vinchiana we enter the 'Brancoleria' with its cluster of beautiful villages scattered among the hills. The region, once densely fortified and covered with castles and feudal residences, observation towers and walled villages, has now lost this distinctive mark, but still preserves all its natural beauty.
On a panoramic terrace we can see Piazza di Brancoli: there is no trace or mention of its fortifications. The village is built around the church of Santa Maria in Piazza, already mentioned in the VIIIth century and rebuilt in its present form in the XIth-XIIth; the church owes its name to the characteristic hillside ledge on which the village stands. We can see no signs of fortifications, although, in the upper part of the village, an interesting alignment of medieval buildings could suggest the presence of a wall.
Castle of Montecatino
The site is placed on a hilltop guarding the final portion of the Valfreddana. Scanty historical notices mention the church of S. Maria and its community that was included, already in medieval times, in that of the lower Cappella settlement.
Today the complex has collapsed and is abandoned; only the bell tower and the outer walls of the church can be seen. The latter was renovated and extended in the XVIIth-XVIIIth centuries and preserves part of its Romanesque set up including the apse (now a vestry), part of the façade and part of the north side. In the Baroque period again, a portico resting on small depressed arches and short stone columns, now ruined, was built against the wall of the church.
Although the bell tower, with only the crenels missing, is certainly old, it doesn't seem to be medieval.
We have no visible signs of the castle, except maybe the esplanade in front of the church; the latter has, indeed, a polygonal outline with a sharp angle to the north reminiscent of the plan of the ancient cassero. Unfortunately the vegetation that has completely overrun the area, with its impenetrable undergrowth, doesn't consent any kind of exploration.
Castle of Santo Stefano di Moriano
After the bridge on the river Serchio, at Ponte a Moriano, continue towards Mastiano and then turn left towards S. Stefano di Moriano. The road curves in the shade of a dense vegetation that, from time to time, allows a glimpse of the valley. After the old graveyard we reach Castello where the church of S. Stefano marks the end of the road.
The castle used to stand right here at the top, between the church and the graveyard. It dates back at least to the Xth century and was owned by the bishops of Lucca: in 1081-1082, in the middle of the struggle over the Investitures, it was the theatre of clashes between the troops of the schismatic Bishop Pietro, supported by Emperor Henry IVth and the occupants of the castle, loyal to Bishop Anselmo, holder of the bishopric of Lucca. In the XIVth century the castle had no more reason to exist and was abandoned.
Now we can still see a large portion of the outer walls buried under the stifling creepers. The remains are no more than two metres high, but still they give us a quite precise idea of the strategic layout with many sharp changes of direction. Maybe the complex was protected by two towers, one of which contained the stepped entrance. There is no sign of the remains of buildings inside the cassero, now completely flattened and turned into a vineyard.
Castagnori
There is a saying in Lucca: 'three houses, one church' that suits the village of Castagnori. And maybe it is too much to call it a village. However, the church, hidden by shrubs and a few houses along the main road make it a pleasant village with an enviable position. From these hills, along the bights of the Serchio down in the valley, the eye can reach the outline of the coast. This place straddled the Freddana and the Serchio Valleys, so a castle, already mentioned in 1081, was built here; further, a place called 'Castagnulo', owned by the monastery of San Salvatore in Brisciano, is mentioned as early as 964.
In the year 1100 the castle was destroyed by Lucca. At the beginning of the XIVth century there was again a cassero in the form of 'consortium', i.e. administered and looked after by several different owners, one of whom the commune of Lucca. A small community continued to live around the castle; however, in the following century, the military stronghold was newly and this time definitely, abandoned.
Today we can find many interesting remains of the complex inside a holm thicket. They are difficult to interpret because of the thick layer of debris covering the area; in spite of this, viewed from some angles, it retains a certain spectacular monumentality. Originally there was simply a fortified enclosure here. The massive walls of this garrison, now nearly completely levelled to the ground, used to follow the place's relief with a half moon profile to the north and a straight portion to the south, where we can see the remains of the entrance. At the western end there was, instead, a tower, still preserved up to the second floor and built outside, though attached to the perimeter. Inside the enclosure there are no rests of buildings. As the number of its inhabitants grew, the settlement expanded outside the perimeter of the original enclosure and developed just outside the walls on the gentle slope to the south. A new, less thick, circle of walls used to protect this new settlement; however, only a few superficial traces of the houses remain, so that we can barely suggest the outline of a plan.
Part of a cistern and at least two interesting tanks or troughs hewn, in the calcareous blocks sticking out of the ground, can still be seen.
Outside the settlement's perimeter there is a square building used as warehouse. Although built with demolition material, it doesn't belong to the medieval phase.
The hills to the north of Lucca are of great beauty not only for the villages that can be seen scattered here and there or for the geometric terraces with vineyards and olive groves, but also for the panorama they offer. Aquilea is placed on one of these hills. After the village the road, in some parts a dirt road, becomes steeper as it climbs among the broom thickets that confer a particular light to the remains of the church of the ancient, now unfortunately completely destroyed, castle. From its hilltop position the castle controlled the plain of Lucca to the south and the slopes in the middle valley of the Serchio to the north.
The site was certainly inhabited since the Early Middle Ages and perhaps, as has been suggested, in ancient times, Etruscan or at least Roman. The castle is first mentioned in 1073, but there was probably some kind of fort before the year 1000. In the time of communes, thanks to its exceptional position, it continued to guard the Serchio Valley and the Plain. Later it lost its strategic role and was abandoned. In the middle of the last century its considerable remains could still largely be appreciated: the exceptional field of vision that had determined the success of the castle, however, was also its undoing: the site was bombed in 1944 by the allies in an attempt to destroy German artillery positions. Today we can see some traces of walls and debris that cannot be identified with any particular structure. On the south of the hill, just outside the walls, are the evocative remains of the Romanesque S. Lorenzo church, the castle's ancient chapel. Mentioned since 1185, it was actually built in the XIth-XIIth century and unfortunately also seriously damaged during the last war. Conceived as a room with an apse and built upon a massive structure, it still preserves intact its beautiful façade with an elegant portal surmounted by an architrave and completed by a lunette. To the east, next to the church, we can still see the bell tower.
Castle of Pontetetto
The castle of Pontetetto was composed of several connected structures that played a role in guarding and defending the bridge on the Ozzeri and the road between Lucca and Pisa. It was certainly still standing in the second half of the XIVth century, but today nothing remains of the fortified complex and it is not even possible to advance any sound hypothesis as to where it originally stood. Since the Middle Ages roads and contours have changed places and only the survival of settlements might indeed suggest that it once stood where today we still find a bridge.
The castle is faithfully reproduced among the pictures accompanying the Chronicles of Giovanni Sercambi, written in the first decades of the XVth century.
On the basis of this picture, which we have good reason to consider reliable down to its very details, we can say that the main nucleus of the castle lay near the north bank of the Ozzeri - the ancient Auser - and was dominated by a high rectangular donjon crowned by protruding corbels and swallow-tailed crenels. The entrance to the tower was, as usual, above ground level and wide ribbed windows could be found below the last floor. It is not clear how this tower, which had a kind of rampart protecting it, was connected to the proper structure of the fortified bridge, itself not so easy to interpret. From the picture in the Chronicles we guess that there was a composite construction at the head of the bridge with two parallel crenelled curtains, at the end of which were drawbridges operated by a mechanism of weights. However it is not clear if this was indeed the cassero of the fort or rather a simpler way of creating a sort of forced passage guarded by the donjon. At any rate, beyond the southern drawbridge (the one opposite the tower), there was the bridge proper: made of stone and much like the former construction though, apparently, smaller in its proportions, the bridge crossed the canal by means of two arches, without, however, reaching the further bank: instead, there was an island in the river connected to the further bank by another drawbridge.
Castle of Piazza di Brancoli
Turning off the 'Statale del Brennero 12th' at Vinchiana we enter the 'Brancoleria' with its cluster of beautiful villages scattered among the hills. The region, once densely fortified and covered with castles and feudal residences, observation towers and walled villages, has now lost this distinctive mark, but still preserves all its natural beauty.
On a panoramic terrace we can see Piazza di Brancoli: there is no trace or mention of its fortifications. The village is built around the church of Santa Maria in Piazza, already mentioned in the VIIIth century and rebuilt in its present form in the XIth-XIIth; the church owes its name to the characteristic hillside ledge on which the village stands. We can see no signs of fortifications, although, in the upper part of the village, an interesting alignment of medieval buildings could suggest the presence of a wall.
Castle of Montecatino
The site is placed on a hilltop guarding the final portion of the Valfreddana. Scanty historical notices mention the church of S. Maria and its community that was included, already in medieval times, in that of the lower Cappella settlement.
Today the complex has collapsed and is abandoned; only the bell tower and the outer walls of the church can be seen. The latter was renovated and extended in the XVIIth-XVIIIth centuries and preserves part of its Romanesque set up including the apse (now a vestry), part of the façade and part of the north side. In the Baroque period again, a portico resting on small depressed arches and short stone columns, now ruined, was built against the wall of the church.
Although the bell tower, with only the crenels missing, is certainly old, it doesn't seem to be medieval.
We have no visible signs of the castle, except maybe the esplanade in front of the church; the latter has, indeed, a polygonal outline with a sharp angle to the north reminiscent of the plan of the ancient cassero. Unfortunately the vegetation that has completely overrun the area, with its impenetrable undergrowth, doesn't consent any kind of exploration.
Castle of Santo Stefano di Moriano
After the bridge on the river Serchio, at Ponte a Moriano, continue towards Mastiano and then turn left towards S. Stefano di Moriano. The road curves in the shade of a dense vegetation that, from time to time, allows a glimpse of the valley. After the old graveyard we reach Castello where the church of S. Stefano marks the end of the road.
The castle used to stand right here at the top, between the church and the graveyard. It dates back at least to the Xth century and was owned by the bishops of Lucca: in 1081-1082, in the middle of the struggle over the Investitures, it was the theatre of clashes between the troops of the schismatic Bishop Pietro, supported by Emperor Henry IVth and the occupants of the castle, loyal to Bishop Anselmo, holder of the bishopric of Lucca. In the XIVth century the castle had no more reason to exist and was abandoned.
Now we can still see a large portion of the outer walls buried under the stifling creepers. The remains are no more than two metres high, but still they give us a quite precise idea of the strategic layout with many sharp changes of direction. Maybe the complex was protected by two towers, one of which contained the stepped entrance. There is no sign of the remains of buildings inside the cassero, now completely flattened and turned into a vineyard.
Castagnori
There is a saying in Lucca: 'three houses, one church' that suits the village of Castagnori. And maybe it is too much to call it a village. However, the church, hidden by shrubs and a few houses along the main road make it a pleasant village with an enviable position. From these hills, along the bights of the Serchio down in the valley, the eye can reach the outline of the coast. This place straddled the Freddana and the Serchio Valleys, so a castle, already mentioned in 1081, was built here; further, a place called 'Castagnulo', owned by the monastery of San Salvatore in Brisciano, is mentioned as early as 964.
In the year 1100 the castle was destroyed by Lucca. At the beginning of the XIVth century there was again a cassero in the form of 'consortium', i.e. administered and looked after by several different owners, one of whom the commune of Lucca. A small community continued to live around the castle; however, in the following century, the military stronghold was newly and this time definitely, abandoned.
Today we can find many interesting remains of the complex inside a holm thicket. They are difficult to interpret because of the thick layer of debris covering the area; in spite of this, viewed from some angles, it retains a certain spectacular monumentality. Originally there was simply a fortified enclosure here. The massive walls of this garrison, now nearly completely levelled to the ground, used to follow the place's relief with a half moon profile to the north and a straight portion to the south, where we can see the remains of the entrance. At the western end there was, instead, a tower, still preserved up to the second floor and built outside, though attached to the perimeter. Inside the enclosure there are no rests of buildings. As the number of its inhabitants grew, the settlement expanded outside the perimeter of the original enclosure and developed just outside the walls on the gentle slope to the south. A new, less thick, circle of walls used to protect this new settlement; however, only a few superficial traces of the houses remain, so that we can barely suggest the outline of a plan.
Part of a cistern and at least two interesting tanks or troughs hewn, in the calcareous blocks sticking out of the ground, can still be seen.
Outside the settlement's perimeter there is a square building used as warehouse. Although built with demolition material, it doesn't belong to the medieval phase.
- MANCINI G.(a cura di), Castagnori. Castello feudale presso la via Francigena, Lucca 1997.
- SERCAMBI G., Bongi S. (a cura di), Il libro delle Croniche, Roma 1892
- REDI F., Difese urbane e fortificazioni del territorio toscano in età comunale: strutture superstiti e fonti iconografiche, in Guerra e guerrieri nella Toscana medievale, Firenze 1990.
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