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Home > Travel Italy > Italy Destinations > Lucca
Lucca
Italy, officially the Italian Republic or Repubblica Italiana, is a Southern European country comprising of the Po River valley, the Italian Peninsula and the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. It is shaped like a boot and for this reason Italians commonly call it lo Stivale, the boot or, due to its prevalent peninsular geographical nature, la Penisola, the Peninsula.
Lucca is a city in Tuscany, northern central Italy, situated on the river Serchio in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Lucca. This city is elevated at 19 meters with the area of 185 square kilometers. Its population as of March 12, 2004 was 85,984 whereas its density is 463 square kilometers.
Lucca was founded by the Etruscans and eventually became a Roman colony in 180 BC. It was the largest Italian city state with a republican constitution to remain self governing over the centuries. In 1805 it was taken over by Napoleon, who put his sister Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi in charge as Queen of Etruria. After 1815 it became a Bourbon-Parma duchy, then part of Tuscany in 1847 and at last part of the Italian State. Lucca is twinned with the English market town of Abingdon, near Oxford.
This municipal territory includes 81 fractions that include Aquileia, Antraccoli, Arliano, Arsina, Arancio, Balbano and several others. There are numerous richly built medieval basilica-form churches in Lucca with rich arcaded facades and campaniles, a few as old as the 8th century.
This city is the birthplace of composers Francesco Geminiani, Gioseffo Guami, Luigi Boccherini, Giacomo Puccini and Alfredo Catalani and hosts the Lucca Summer Festival each year which, in July 2006, saw the likes of Eric Clapton, Roger Waters, Tracy Chapman and Santana play live in the Piazza Napolean.
A city known for its historic myths and traditions, scenic beauty, cooperative people and luxurious hotels and cottages, Lucca is one of the favorite holiday destinations for most of the vacation lovers.
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