St. Michael's Square is a square in Lucca, today the main meeting point of the Lucchese people. It is also known as "Chains Square" due to the typical boundary of the square by columns joined by heavy chains.
The square corresponds to the ancient forum of the Roman city, and is tangent to the decumano, consisting of the East-West direction with Via San Paolino, Via Roma and Via Santa Croce and not far from the cardus in North-South direction with Via Cenami and Via Fillungo. In this square stood the Palatium Civitatis, the Public Palace, now deceased, built next to the church and then transferred to the Augusta Fortrss, demolished in 1370.
The square is surrounded by old buildings, medieval architecture with arches and pointed arches, brick facing and mullioned windows.
There are also impressive buildings such as Palazzo Gigli, built in 1529 on medieval houses and the Praetorian Palace (or Palace of the Podestà) in 1492. It is located on the corner of Via Vittorio Veneto and houses under its lodges a bronze statue of Matteo Civitali, by Arnaldo Fazzi. The lodges of the Praetorian Palace are often the site of demonstrations and artistic and gastronomic meetings.
On the square there are also buildings heavily renovated or completely rebuilt in alleged ancient style in the twentieth century. Among the renovations we highlight the buildings between the corners with Via Di Poggio and Via Calderia. On the south side, after the demolition of old buildings, the House of the Mutilated and the palace of the Credito Italiano were rebuilt around 1930. These two buildings, which imitate the Florentine style of the fifteenth century, are quite different and distinguished from others of the square.
The pavement of the Piazza San Michele was paved for the first time with bricks in a herringbone pattern when in the fifteenth century the Praetorian Palace was built. Later in the eighteenth century, it was raised with bricks of gray stone and bordered by posts and chains.
In 1863, in honor of Francesco Burlamacchi a statue sculpted by Ulisse Cambi was placed at the center of the square.
The square is home to the magnificent Romanesque church of San Michele in Foro with its wonderful white limestone facade.
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