Torre Guinigi

Torre Guinigi is the most distinctive tower in Lucca — a tall medieval tower house with a clump of holm oak trees growing incongruously from a garden on its summit, visible from all over the city. The tower was built by the wealthy Guinigi family in the late 14th century as a combination of defensive fortification and status symbol, in the Lucchese tradition of tower-building as conspicuous display of civic power.

The 230 steps to the top are worth climbing for the view over Lucca's terracotta rooftops and the surrounding Tuscan plain, and for the close-up spectacle of the trees themselves — ancient holm oaks whose thick trunks and canopy provide shade for the handful of people who make the climb. The best view of the tower from outside is from Via Sant'Andrea, looking south.

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A story
The Guinigi family were the dominant political dynasty in Lucca for most of the 14th and early 15th centuries. Paolo Guinigi, who ruled the city from 1400 to 1430, planted the holm oaks on top of the tower — the trees that still grow there today, their roots extending down into the medieval stonework, sustained by the thin soil in the brick planter on the rooftop. The trees are now roughly 600 years old.