360° Aerial Virtual Tour - The walls as you've never seen them before

What better way to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the construction of the circuit of the city walls than with an aerial tour of the ramparts, curtain walls, and bastions that enclose the city within? The aerial virtual tour provides an unusual, quite spectacular, photographic journey along the perimeter of the urban walls.

As an interactive journey it reveals the walls as they have never been seen thanks to 360° panoramic images that can be explored and shared, discovered, and that one can become acquainted with by sending postcards directly from the virtual panorama.

The flight from a height of 30 meters offers a reading of the complex morphology of the city; it permits the discovery Lucca within the walls (Lucca drento) and Lucca without (Lucca fora) with a simple movement of a mouse.

San Martino rampart

Aerial view of the San Martino rampart

baluardo santa croce vista aerea con drone Santa Croce rampart

Aerial view of the Santa Croce rampart

baluardo san donato vista aerea con drone San Donato rampart

Aerial view of the San Donato rampart

baluardo san paolino vista aerea con drone San Paolino rampart

Aerial view of the San Paolino rampart

Virtual Tour - The walls in different seasons

San Martino rampart

Panoramic view of the San Martino rampart in autumn.

It seems to us that the walls have never changed, that they have always been there to serve as a stage set for our lives, in everyday matters and in special moments; in reality the show that they offer us changes visibly with every sunset, with every season.

In this section we will share what all Lucchesi have the privilege to admire every day, dedicating this tour to all those who have left Lucca or to those who will decide to visit the city, giving them a sense of actually having seen the walls, of having really experienced them admiring them in the dark if night, under the dazzling light of snow, illuminated by the brilliant green of spring grass or under the threatening leaden charged skies of winter.

All that is left for us is to wish you a good trip ... and a deeply-felt welcome home to those whom Lucca holds in its heart.

The path atop the walls in autumn

Panoramic view from the path atop the walls near the Castello di San Donato in autumn.

The path atop the walls in winter

Panoramic view from the path atop the walls near Palazzo Pfanner after snowfall in December 2011.

Cairoli Rampart (“la Liberta”)

The points of the rampart came to be decorated with marble elements. In this view the mask of Baluardo Cairoli.

interno porta san donato San Donato Gate

Inside the San Donato gate where one can note the fireplaces for the guards.

passaggio sopraelevato San Martino Rampart Passage

The high areas for cannon are held up by a span of arches and traverses along an elevated passageway.

gli spalti innevati The snow-covered external walls

The snow-covered external walls seen from the San Colombano rampart with the San Regolo rampart in the background.

Santa Croce Rampart

The San Donato Gate seen from one of the farthest extent of the Santa Croce rampart in autumn.

Santa Croce Rampart

The San Donato Gate seen from one of the furthest extent of the Santa Croce rampart in winter

The curtain wall at night

360-degree view of the curtain wall that connects the San Columbano and San Regolo ramparts.

Cairoli Rampart (“la Liberta”)

One of the farthest extensions of defenses on the rampart and in the background the Elisa gate erected in 1811 at the wish of Napoleon’s sister.

The San Colombano rampart sortie

Small bridge along the sortie San Columbano on what remains of the ditch which was originally about eight meters wide.

baluardo san salvatore struttura Structure and Arch

The structures that support the high cannon platforms along the sortie of the San Salvatore rampart.

The memorial monument to Catalani

The memorial monument to lucchese musician Alfredo Catalani placed on the San Paolino rampart

The Cairoli Sortie

The little bridge along the Carioli sortie on what remains of the ditch which was originally about eight meters wide.

The Cannon platform on the Cairoli Rampart

The cannon platform has different inclinations depending upon the direction of cannon fire.

San Colombano Rampart

The curtain wall that connects The San Colombano with the Santa Maria rampart. The San Pietro gate in the background.

San Donato Rampart in autumn

Vista panoramica del Baluardo San Donato durante la stagione autunnale.

Balilla field

Balilla field near Santa Maria, the only nose-shaped rampart.

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