Lucchio is situated 780 meters above sea level and 18 kilometers from Bagni di Lucca,its the most distant village from Bagni di Lucca.It’s on the border between the territory of Bagni di Lucca and Pistoia, take the SS12 Brennero and take the junction at Tana Termini towards Lucchio.The village cannot be seen from the the Val di Lima, its visable by going on the road towards Popiglio; only then one can see Lucchio attached to a rock with a sheer drop, above theres the remains of the antique fortress. From faraway the houses seem attached to one another,it was difficult to bring the road to Lucchio.Its name means place covered by woods “lucus”.

The History
It’s first remembered in the files of the Archiepiscopal in 1260,where the church of San Pietro was counted as a church of Valleriana. Lucchio was dominated by the Lupar family and follewed their exile from the Republic of Lucca. It became important for the defence of the State of Lucca against their rivals from Florence, which gave them special priviliges.In 1437 after an attack from the florentines Lucchio was the only village that wasn’t occupied in the Val di Lima thanks to two girls of Vico Pancellorum, Anastasia and Lucia, they made prisioner the commanding officer of the fortress Gaspero da Stazzema, who was about to betray the cause and open the door to the enemies. For this the Republic of Lucca in 1441 lowered the taxes for then and the near future.The pastoral visits noticed that Lucchio was one of the poorest in the valley,there were lots of fights and discussions between the inhabitants for many motives: promiscuous grazing, chestnut harvesting and trespassing with livestock, that in 1740 a protector was send from Lucca to safeguard the rights of the population.In the files of Bagni di Lucca there is conserved a statute of 1621.The parish church is dedicated to San Pietro Apostolo it has been reconstructed and extended in the 17th century, with the construction of the right hand side aisle, the bell tower was made in 1894. The remains of the fortress are still visable,it was first nominated in documents back in 1327 and 1385. In 1390 the General Council of the Republic ordered it to be restored.The last restoration dates back to 1645 and 1648. Under the government of Carlo Ludovico di Borbone the fortress was bought by private owners. The view from the top is superb one can see the villages of the surrounding mountains,and at valley one can see the waters of the Lima.