The City of 100 Churches and the Holy Face

Lucca is known as the city of 100 churches.  It is said that within the city walls you can find that many but we have even been told that this is an underestimate.  No doubt much of this is modern urban mythology – although in medieval times possibly accurate - and the truth is that there are now probably about 40 churches that you can visit; this is still a pretty impressive number for such a small place.  They span a period of 1000 years, the oldest has its origins in the 600s and the more recent date from the 1600s. 

These churches house a range of treasures.  Not the dark and sterile, stone walled churches that you tend to see back home, here you are faced with paintings and frescoes on walls and pillars that date back to medieval times.  Additionally many of the churches contain important relics: the mummified body of Santa Zita in the Church of San Frediano is one but another very important treasure is the ‘Holy Face’ which can be found in the cathedral.

The Holy Face is a life size wooden crucifix which medieval legend says was sculpted by a Pharisee who helped Joseph of Arimathea deposit the body of Christ in the tomb.  It is said it was found in a cave in the Holy Land by a bishop guided by a revelation and transported to Lucca in 742.  The story of the miraculous journey to Lucca was seen as proof indeed that the rightful place for the Holy Face was in that city: it was taken by a boat without sails or crew to Tuscany; the local townsfolk tried to unload it but it would retreat from their grasp and it was not until a bishop arrived from Lucca that it allowed itself to be retrieved; finally it was loaded on a cart drawn by oxen which took the cargo to Lucca without any guidance or driver. 

Understandably the relic became a destination for medieval pilgrimage and the current Holy Face is an early medieval copy as so much of the original was chipped away by pilgrims.  Such was its importance it was deemed the King of Lucca and appeared on coins minted in the city.  It is also mentioned in Dante’s Inferno and ‘by the Face of Lucca’ was supposedly the customary oath of King William II of Britain.  Each year it would be dressed in gold vestments for a procession through the city, a procession that still takes place today but without the relic. 

18 May - Florence

Today we headed back to Florence to again meet up with Fiona and have her show us more of the city.  Our brief when asked where we wanted to go was ‘anywhere without crowds’.  Arriving at the station reminded us of Cinque Terre with masses of people and tourist groups but we managed to lose them as we headed to some of the less visited sites in the city.  First to the church of Santa Maria Novella from the late 1200s with frescoes and paintings from the 14^th and 15^th century, then a wander through Florence’s central market with stacks of fresh and interesting produce and finally to the Bargello museum.  The latter is meant to be second only to the Uffizi in Florence but unlike the Uffizi you don’t have to order your ticket in advance then spend hours in a queue to collect it and then shuffle around the museum’s corridors behind the huge crowds.  The Bargello is very quiet and houses an eclectic mix of renaissance sculptures by the greats such as Donatello and Michelangelo plus many others we probably should have, but had not, heard of.  We headed to Fiona’s for a nice lunch cooked by Giuseppe which we then walked off in the nearby Boboli gardens in the city, gardens originally set out for the Medici and which offer a slice of peace and tranquility within Florence and great views of the city.

On the walk back from the station to the flat we wandered through the peaceful cathedral piazza where we were unexpectedly ambushed by a couple of Negroni cocktails…

                                          

17 May - Lucca

The morning was one of farewells with Roger and Ali departing for England and then we had some down time in the flat before heading out for a cycle around the city wall to enjoy the day and chill in the sun.  We opted for a quiet night in the flat in order to let our livers recover.

16 May - Cinque Terre

The Cinque Terre (The Five Lands) are five old fishing villages that cling to the cliffs along the west coast of Italy, in the region of Liguria north of Tuscany.  The five villages and the area around are part of a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  They are a popular tourist destination and we have had them on our ‘to see’ list for a while.

Because of their location the villages are best visited by walking or by sea.  We belatedly found out that you can also take a train from the nearby town of La Spezia, although most of your time between villages is spent in tunnels.  We headed off there today by train with Roger and Ali and a loose plan to take a ferry north along the coast (walking would take too long) and to get off at a couple of the villages before heading back to La Spezia and the train to Lucca. 

Planning a trip by ferry to visit the villages and spend time in at least two is like one of those logistics training tasks you get on management courses: there are only three departure times from La Spezia but leaving too late shortens your options; only some departing ferries at each village go to the next village along; yet you want to see all the villages so you need to get the timings right; you could however end up with a plan to visit all the villages but find you reach the one furthest north (Monterosso) too late to catch the last ferry back to La Spezia; and you also need to factor in the arrival and departure times in any one place such that you can spend time there and still not fall foul of the other constraints.  Fortunately it was all made simpler once we realised we could get a train back from Monterosso to La Spezia and so we headed off on the train from Lucca to La Spezia and down to the harbour to grab our day ticket for the ferry.

The villages are definitely beautiful:  tiny and colourful and clinging to the cliffs of small coves they sit above a blue sea along the rugged Ligurian coastline.  Their few streets are narrow and bright and there is a maze of small medieval passageways to explore between some of the houses.  They are delightful.

But……

….on the the ferry you are crammed like the sardines the fisherman of the villages may have once caught.  The passengers jostle around to get the best views and cameras and phones and selfie sticks are waved aloft to try and avoid the sea of bodies.  When you arrive each village is crowded with people converging on it by boat and by foot and by train, made worse by any number of groups twenty or thirty strong following their flag holding leaders.  The few narrow streets are thronged and the bars and shops and restaurants take full advantage.  People come and go in waves, in time with the ferries arriving and departing, yet the crowds never seem to diminish and the queues to get back on the ferries (and on the train at the end of the day) are like the worst rush hour crowds back home.  It is also amazing how seemingly old and frail men and women suddenly become spritely enough to barge you out of the way when the gang plank is lowered.   

It would be nice to go back and walk between the villages out of season in order to see them for the charming places we are sure they must be when not crowded but we question whether 'out of season' exists where Cinque Terre are concerned. 

Before the queue built up.....

15 May - Montecarlo (not Monte Carlo!)

We decided this morning to take the bull by the horns and do something that has worried us for a while: use the car.  We collected it in order to head off with Roger and Ali to check out Montecarlo, a hill top village a few miles to the east.  It was a nice winding journey through green countryside on the way there, a horrible winding journey through rain and hail and lightning on the way back.  In between we enjoyed lunch and a wander around the small and quiet fortress town. 

We detoured along the River Serchio on the return to Lucca to see the ‘Devil’s Bridge’, a medieval footbridge across the river a few miles north of the city.  Fortunately the weather seemed to settle by the time we were there.  Also known as the Ponte della Maddalena and built in about 1080, it was a vital crossing for people doing the Via Francigena to Rome (being north of us we had not seen it on our trip last month).  Before we walked across we did a quick check to make sure we had no sacks of flour or millstones hidden about our person; apparently you were banned from taking them across the bridge in the 1600s in order to preserve the bridge’s structure.

Needless to say that when we got back to Lucca the parking space had gone….

                                

   

14 May - Lucca

The weather forecast was for heavy rain so we had an indoor plan for the morning and visited a 17th Century palace to see how they used to live here and to check out some Lucchese art. 

Palazzo Mansi

We had then planned to visit a nearby town by train by way of a day out but the weather turned out to be great and we were side tracked by lunch and a repeat of the massive antiques fair that occurs each month here in Lucca.  As a result we did not leave the city and ended up chilling in the later afternoon sun in the small but beautiful ornamental gardens of another palace in the city.  The evening was spent in another church listening to some Mozart and then back home trying to whittle down our wine and limoncello supplies with Roger and Alison……

                  

13 May - Lucca

Lorraine and I spent the morning trying to catch up on our Italian while our guests cycled around the city. 

In the evening Roger and Alison introduced us to Negroni cocktails in the little cocktail bar that we seem to find our way to occasionally.  When we asked if he knew how to make them the friendly, aging, grey haired, pony-tailed, goaty-bearded owner gave a shrug and a look as if to say how stupid a question it was and went on to tell us the history behind the drink as he prepared them.  It seems they were invented in Florence in 1919 in a bar frequented by the Count Negroni when he asked the barman to strengthen his favourite cocktail – the Americano – by adding gin rather than soda water.  After these aperitifs we headed off to dinner in a tiny but super restaurant, one of those where the passion of the owner shines through and reflects itself in the quality of the food he serves up.  We will be going back.