Wall of Lucca 360°: Bastion San Colombano Virtual Tour
The wonderful town of Lucca is hidden behind large and very well preserved Walls. It is one of the few towns in Italy to still have it's defensive system intact. The perimeter is irregular and is about 4200 meters long; it is formed by curtain walls that are 12 meters height and 30 meters thick at the base.
In six of the eleven bastion we still have the "casermette" (little barracks) which were used as a shelter for the guards and as a munitions deposit for the 126 cannons that defend the perimeter. The inside of some bastion can still be visited.
The name of the Bastion probably derives from the Church dedicated to St. Columbanus built in the eighth century; in the area of the church was, many centuries later, built the core of the rampart: a tower which was later incorporated in the bastion to take its present shape: the rampart was opened in 1603.
WALLS of LUCCA 360° … BASTION SAN COLOMBANO
360 Pano > Right Exit form the Walls
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The asymmetry of the rampart derives to the adaptation of the fortification to the existing forms and to the need to defend Porta San Pietro a strategic entrance to the city of Lucca.
360 Pano > Little Bridge over the "Cunetta"
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Another name of the Bastion is “della Rosa” like the church that stands nearby. Restored about forty years ago, the interior, could give a sense of "crushing", instead we enter into high vaulted rooms connected in a precise defensive architecture.
360 Pano > The Tip of the Rampart
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The Walls enclose the historical centre of the City an uninterrupted series of squares, churches and palaces joined together by a web of narrow streets which opens unexpectedly onto important works of art and monuments.
360 Pano > Little Bridge over the "Cunetta"near the railway station
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The Bastion has two "sortite" (little pedestrian exits): one, on the east side (2004), connects the rampart with Via del Fosso; the other, on the west side (beginning of 1900), connects with the railway station and with the Cathedral.
360 Pano > Left Exit form the Walls
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Originally there were three gateways: Porta San Pietro (1566) on the south side, Porta Santa Maria (1593) on the north side and Porta San Donato (1629) on the west side. Only in 1811 was opened, on the east side, a fourth gate, called Porta Elisa in honour of Elisa Bonaparte. This gate did not have the military features of the others, resembling more an arch of triumph.
360 Pano > Inside the Bastion San Colombano
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The only alarm that the Walls have had to face was that of the water from the river Serchio which in 1812 nearly flooded the town. All the gates into the city were closed and reinforced; fortunately the town remained unharmed.
360 Pano > The "Cut" to the left of the bastion towards Porta San Pietro
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In front of the curtain wall there is a large green space, a large area without buildings as an extra protection to the city. In the background we see the Baluardo Santa Maria and the Porta San Pietro one of the entrances to the city.
360 Pano > The Tip of the Bastion from the top - Tower of the old Walls
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There are 11 bulwarks linked by curtains from which the visitor have a spectacular views of Lucca and the surrounding mountains. An effective green belt surrounds the walls' exterior. In order to eliminate any woodland that might serve as possible enemy camouflage a large band of cleared land was established around the perimeter.
360 Pano > The "Cut" to the right of the bastion towards Bastion San Regolo
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It's a surreal sight to see people going about their daily lives, chatting, jogging, walking their dogs, picnicking and sunbathing at 12 mt above ground, but it's an experience that's not to be missed.
360 Pano > Pedestrian walk along the City Walls and a "Casermetta"
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The "Casermette" (little barracks) on the Bastions were used as a shelter for the guards and as a munitions deposit for the cannons that defend the perimeter and the city of Lucca.
