Walking on Lucca’s hills

A place where time has stopped: the city of Lucca is just a few kilometers away, but on these hills, you will breathe the air of a remote world. 

From the parking lot, where the excursion starts, we walk along the paved road, usually with little traffic. The route winds through Renaissance villas, once the summer residences of rich silk merchants, and medieval Romanesque churches in white limestone. A country lane leads us to the first two imposing villas, visible from the outside. We return to the main road just to cross the first of the two Romanesque churches: St. Andrea di Gattaiola. 

We will admire a pleasant and silent landscape, immersed in what looks like a painting by 19th-century landscapers. From here we begin to climb paths through the olive groves: the oil in these area is a product of excellence that has been exported for centuries. Halfway through we meet the other church, from where we have a panoramic view of the plain of Lucca. On the way back we cross a chestnut wood and, before going back down, we have the opportunity to admire a recently built architecture. It’s Villa Farfalla: a building in local stone, born from the inspiration of the Belgian architect Bouquillon. We close the loop returning to the cars.

A special experience that embraces Lucca and its surrounding environment.