The lovely medieval city of Lucca is full of surprises and intriguing little gems around every corner. One of the most fascinating, if somewhat macabre, things that you could stumble across is the mummified remains of Saint Zita, the city's patron saint. Famously kind and beloved, she spent her life working diligently as a maid for a noble family, attending church on a daily basis, and tending to the sick and poor in her free time.
Despite having died in the 13th century, when her body was exhumed in the 16th century, it was found to be uncorrupted and was eventually put on display in a richly ornamented glass coffin in the Basilica di San Ferdiano. Canonised in the 1690s, a cult of worship built up around the kindly saint, who remains especially beloved in the hearts of locals to this day.
Despite having died in the 13th century, when her body was exhumed in the 16th century, it was found to be uncorrupted and was eventually put on display in a richly ornamented glass coffin in the Basilica di San Ferdiano. Canonised in the 1690s, a cult of worship built up around the kindly saint, who remains especially beloved in the hearts of locals to this day.
In fact, her feast day, the 27th of April, sees locals drape her glass coffin and adorn the church in which it is placed with flowers each year to remember her by. This mark of respect and remembrance also spills outside to the nearby old amphitheater and piazza, where a large number of stalls displaying and selling different types of plants and flowers are set up. Making the lovely city's historic core only more beautiful, it is quite the sight to behold and a very appropriate event for marking the blooming of Spring.
If you have found a luxury villa in Lucca and are planning a trip come Spring, then you really must make a point to admire the blooming displays of this very special feast day and to mount the city walls to take in and enjoy the great beauty of the surrounding landscape, which is at its lushest and most remarkably lovely at this time of year.
