Piazza Napoleone, commonly called "Piazza Grande", is one of the main squares of the old town center. The birth of the square dates back to 1806, a period when the Princedom of Lucca was under the Napoleonic domination, exercised in the town by Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, Napoleon's sister. 

To the French emperor was in fact dedicated the square, designed by the architects Giovanni Lazzerini and Pierre Theodore Bienimé. With the idea of giving greater prominence to the Ducal Palace, various structures located on the site such as housing, post office, salt stores, and even the church of San Pietro Maggiore were eliminated. The initial project put at the center of the square a statue of Napoleon, symbol of gratitude to the emperor. 

The fall of the Napoleonic empire and the Congress of Vienna in 1815 transformed the Princedom  of Lucca in a Dukedom, giving the power to Maria Luisa of Bourbon. The renovation of the Palazzo Ducale and of the square was entrusted to Lorenzo Nottolini, who substituted the statue of Napoleon with a monument in honor of Maria Luisa, carved in 1843 by Lorenzo Bartolini.