The Walls of Lucca

**Because it was never used in war, and then because the city turned it into a park instead of pulling it down.** ✅ **First — it was never attacked**: the wall was built between 1504 and 1650 in the **modern bastioned manner** — low, thick and sloped to absorb artillery. ⚠ **But Lucca kept its independence by political manoeuvre and payment rather than fighting** — **so the wall was never besieged or bombarded**, **and no part of it was destroyed in war**. ✅ **Second — a 19th-century decision**: most European cities demolished their walls in that century because they **had become militarily useless and were strangling urban growth** — **and turned them into ring roads** (as Vienna did). ⚠ **Lucca chose otherwise**: **the top was planted with trees under Maria Luisa di Borbone** and turned into a **public promenade** — **so it acquired a new civic use instead of becoming an obstacle**. ✅ **That is the essential point**: **a structure that finds a new function survives; one that does not is demolished**. ✅ **The result today**: **a 4.2 km raised park** the city uses daily — for running, cycling and family walks, **not only for visitors**.