Approaching a city with your nose up to discover the infinite details that tell the story of men, women, and places opens a world of colors, sensations, and dreams, but also many unanswered questions.
In Lucca, by looking up, one notices a particular detail: the wrought-iron cages or lanterns placed at heights on the corners of some palaces. It’s understood that they were used to light the streets, but what was the nightlife like in Lucca during the Middle Ages? How were the streets lit? Since when have these lanterns existed, and how were they used?
Angelo Cucchi, based on thorough research in the Historical Archive of Lucca, wrote a book in 2010 entitled Le luci della città (“The Lights of the City“), which offers a wealth of information.
The streets and squares of the city remained dark at night. A few little lights glimmered in front of tabernacles or sacred images, and a few street lamps illuminated public buildings. For certain holidays, like the Feast of the Holy Cross, torches were used along the facades of some palaces.
The taverns had to close two hours after sunset, and the streets, often dirty, were filled with piles of stones or mud. Those who had to move around used a lantern in hand. Ladies and gentlemen were transported in closed litters, preceded by a servant holding the lantern.
Meanwhile, people stayed at home around the hearth or let a candle burn.
Probably of military origin, as attested by a 1369 decree from Lucca regulating their use, the lanterns or “fanali” became in the 16th century a privilege for certain families, who used them for safety but also for prestige.
Giorgio Vasari called them “lumiere,” later known as “lanterne,” and now more simply “fanali.”
In his 1969 book on wrought-iron lanterns in Lucca, Giuseppe Ardinghi listed all the lanterns still present on the buildings in Lucca, around forty in total, including:
- One of the oldest, in Piazza San Salvatore, on the “Ronzi” tower, dating from the 13th-14th century, with two overlapping bands. Its slenderness upwards reflects the verticality of the tower.
- The lantern on the Garzoni Palace, at the corner of Via San Paolino and Via del Crocifisso, a 16th-century lighthouse with a beautiful chalice shape.
- The lantern on the Saminiati Palace, at the corner of Via Fillungo and Piazza dei Mercanti, a 17th-century lantern.
- The lantern on the Boccella Sani Palace, on Via Fillungo: a 17th-century lantern in the shape of a lantern with heavy plate decoration, which suggests how the light filtered through the wrought iron.
Many others deserve mention, like the lantern at the Bernardini Palace. However, among the most beautiful, the one at the Pretorio Palace stands out. Since construction of the latter began in the late 15th century under the direction of Matteo Civitali, it is assumed that the lantern was also designed by him or at least inspired by his models.
At this point, a question naturally arises: How were the lanterns lit, and with what?
The lighting was oil-based. Each lantern held a lamp filled with vegetable oil, usually olive oil. Since olive oil tends to freeze in winter, it was mixed with a third of olive oil and two-thirds of walnut oil.
Two key figures were involved:
- The “allumatori” (lamp-lighters), also called “accenditori” in other cities: In the early 1800s, there were 18 of them. Each was responsible for lighting, extinguishing, and maintaining the lanterns assigned to them.
They had a numbered box for carrying the lamps and a ladder with a removable plank to rest the lamp on while cleaning the lanterns and changing the wicks. They had to soak the wicks in oil at least 24 hours before use and monitor all the flames during the night, rekindling them if necessary.
The lanterns burned throughout the night and were extinguished with the first light of day.
- The “magazzeniere” (warehouse keeper): He kept the oil for the lighting, recorded the amounts delivered to each lamp-lighter, and monitored the price of the oil.
To save on costs, the lanterns were not lit on full moon nights and were reactivated during the waning moon period.
During the rule of Elisa Baciocchi, new measures were adopted to improve the public lighting service, and in 1807, the construction of 70 new lanterns and the purchase of 30 others already in use by private individuals were authorized.
Under the Duchy of the Bourbons, oil lighting continued, and the number of lanterns increased to 183, with 12 lamp-lighters assigned to manage them.
Gas lighting, already present in large European cities, arrived in Lucca with the unification of Italy.
The light then spread outside the walls: new candelabras were installed outside the San Pietro Gate following the Parisian model, while the lanterns from the Santa Maria Gate to the Borgo Giannotti were inspired by those of London!
This beginning of a story could become an invitation to join the various tours of our association, Lucca Info&Guide! Come and meet us, to listen with your nose up in the air to the stories of Lucca and its ‘lanterns’ and maybe discover more of them!
Corinne Brient
+39 3387470660