Lucca

Lucca is a Roman settlement positioned at the intersection of three consular roads by the serchio river. In the Middle ages the town was a rival of Pisa and Florence and prospered on textile manufacture and trade. This period (around the 13th century) was the time of great building activity, many churches rose all over the city. Lucca, apart from small intervals, remained an independent republic for 5 centuries. During the renaissance period great palaces and mansions were built when banking became one of the cities main activities. The walls instead date from the 16th-17th century. After centuries of resisting the neighbouring grandducal domains, Lucca succumbed to the french. Thereafter it became a principality governed by Napoleon's sister Elisa Baciocchi and later a bourbon possession before becoming part of the kingdom of Italy.