Page 25 - Flipbook

Lucca Piazza dell’Anfiteatro.
Piazza degli Scacchi, Marostica.
San Cerbone Cathedral, Piazzi Garibaldi, Massa Marittima.
Marostica Piazza degli Scacchi
The name means the Plaza of Chess, a reference to this medieval piazza’s giant chessboard. On
the second weekend of September in even numbered years (2014), it is the setting for a spectacle
in which performers dressed in costumes of the Middle Ages enact a live chess game. The show is allegedly based on a match played in the 15th century to settle a romantic rivalry between aristocrats for the hand of Lionora Parisio, whose father was the lord of Marostica Castle. Even if it’s not true, it makes for a fantastic backstory.
Lucca Piazza dell’Anfiteatro
Piazzas are often brilliant accumulations of history and this one is no exception. The elliptical
shape reflects its Roman origin as a stadium for large-scale events and gladiatorial games. Over the centuries though, it has lived many lives as a prison, a storage place for salt, a communal vegetable garden and terraced housing, all of which nibbled away at the grand shape. Architect Lorenzo Nottolini restored the amphitheatre in the 19th century. It is now crisply outlined by plain-faced 19th century residential buildings but the remains of Emperor Claudius’s earliest structures are just 2 metres below the pavement.
IT’S HIP TO BE SQUARE: (clockwise from left) Sicily’s Piazza del Duomo dates from ancient roman times.
A temple to the goddess Athena was on the site of today’s cathedral. Piazza Maggiore is the medieval heart of modern day bustling Bologna. Piazza dell’Anfiteatro, in Lucca, is the perfect piazza to experience true alfresco dining. The town of Marostica is famous for it’s giant chessboard; where every even year, in September, a game of chess using live pieces is played. The top of triangular Piazza Garibaldi in Tuscany, is formed by the San Cerbone Cathedral.
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