Friday, September 12th
The Via Francigena is divided into three stages: the first stage is from Canterbury, England to Lausanne, Switzerland, the second from Lausanne to Lucca, and the third from Lucca to Rome. We’ve now completed our portion of stage 2. In doing so, we’ve traveled 337 miles (mostly walking) up, down and around mountains and hills, through farmlands, vineyards and industrial areas. We are now more than halfway to our destination, with approximately 268 more miles to go which we hope to cover in the next three weeks.
Today we walked 17.5 miles with two major climbs totaling1800 feet of elevation gain. We passed through the small Italian towns of Montemagno, Valpromaro and Piazano. The last 3 miles or so were on a pleasant path through the Parco Fluviale. It was a long day of walking and we didn’t enter Lucca’s old town until almost 5:00 pm. As tired and sweaty as we were however, we decided to attend an opera concert at 7:00 pm this evening. The Italian composer Puccini was born in Lucca and the concert featured music from some of his more famous operas including Tosha, Madame Butterfly and Turandot.
Lucca is a vibrant, but very touristy city, so different from the sleepy town we visited 24 years ago. Rather than walking to Altopascio tomorrow, we’ve decided to spend extra time in Lucca and take an afternoon train to our next destination.
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| Pilgrim water fountain on our way out of Camaiore |
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| Early morning clouds on the mountain |
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| A mural depicting four major Tuscan cities along the Via Francigena from right to left: Camaiore. Lucca, San Gimignano and Siena |
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| Valley view |
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| One of our three major climbs today |
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| This section was like a jungle. More than one sticker bush snagged us |
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| The church in the background was our lunch stop for the day. Nice bench in the shade with a beautiful view of the valley below. |
Saturday, September 13th
Early this morning we walked Lucca’s Renaissance-era walls which encircle the entire old city. We also did a little shopping before heading to the Chiesa di San Michele in Foro where we met a guide at 11:00 am for a 2-hour city walking tour. Thirty minutes into the tour we arrived at the Cathedrale di San Martino, where one of Italy’s most famous religious treasures, the carved wooden crucifix called the Volto Santo (Holy Face) is housed. Legend attributes this crucifix to Nicodemus and for centuries it has been paraded through town on September 13th (tonight) during Lucca’s festival of Luminaria di Santa Croce. When we realized the church would be closed by the time our walking tour was over, we decided to skip the rest of the tour so we could see the Volto Santo before we had to leave Lucca this afternoon. We were all disappointed we couldn’t stay for the procession tonight, although I’m sure the city streets would have been so crowded as to be claustrophobic.
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| The exterior mosaic of the 12th century Church of San Frediano is aglow in the morning light |
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| View from Lucca's wall |
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| Another view from the wall |
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| Church of San Michele in Foro with its stunning 13th century facade makes it one of Lucca's more memorable landmarks |
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| Lucca's Cathedral of San Martino |
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| Ceiling of the Cathedral |
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| The Volto Santo |
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