REMAINS OF THE CASTLE WALLS (fourteenth century)

As evidenced by some remains, once the centre of Camaiore was enclosed by a city wall, whose perimeter measured around 1470 metres. By will of the citizens and with the permission of Lucca, the walls were built from 1374 till 1381 in order to protect the city from the continual attacks of mercenaries.

According to a decree dating 1374 and to some illustrations preserved in the Archivio Comunale of Camaiore, the walls were crenellated and were around 8 metres high and 1.20 metres thick. Under the castle walls, which were preceded by a deep moat, there was the walkway, while on the top of them, there were thirteen open turrets, six on the northern side and seven on the southern one. Nowadays, two turrets still exist: the one – named Torre Orsi after its current owner – is located in a residential area; the other is incorporated in an ENEL box. Both of them are included in one of the few sections of the city wall still existing: the one stretching for 220 metres from the garden of Palazzo Littorio till the Porta Lombricese. Another – much shorter – section is located on Piazza Romboni and is 50 metres long.

Four city gates permitted access the castle of Camaiore and their names depended on their positions: Porta Lucchese, Porta Lombricese, Porta Pedonese and Porta Genovese. Among them, only Porta Lombricese survives. It was erected at the base of a crenellated tower and is located on the extreme side of Piazza San Bernardino. Porta Lombricese was preceded by a ravelin provided with a drawbridge, which was erected in 1483 and still exists.

Beside the city wall, the above-mentioned decree ordered the construction of a rocca. The fortress was built on the extreme eastern side of the walls, in that part of the city which is currently called la Rocca. It was composed of high walls and a tower, whose height was around 30 metres. In 1820, because of the opening of the gateway dedicated to Maria Luisa – sovereign of the small duchy of Lucca – the rocca underwent considerable changes. Nowadays, a section of it can be seen from the vegetable garden next to the town theatre.

DEMOLITION OF THE CITY WALLS

Throughout the nineteenth century and particularly after the Unification of Italy (1861), the idea arose of a radical renovation of the city that materialised in the request of demolition of the city walls. The section of walls located on the current Piazza XXIX Maggio – the then Piazza di Piè alla Terra – was reused for the construction of the tram station that linked Camaiore to Viareggio and remained in use till 1938.

After the demolition, some remains of the castle walls survived on the northern side of Piazza XXIX Maggio. Yet, at the beginning of the 30s, the project for the construction of Palazzo Littorio took shape. In 1932, the Podestà allowed the remains of the wall to be knocked down in order to make space for the casa del fascio and shortly after the fascist building was erected and the remains demolished. Despite the reprimands of the Superintendence of Medieval and Modern Art of Tuscany which was not asked for any authorisation, the violation committed by the administration of Camaiore was never punished.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gruppo Archeologico (edited by), Camaiore: Dal borgo al castello

Alessandro Streghi, Cronache di Lucca, metà XV secolo, Lucca, Biblioteca statale