Lucca and the Silk

In the Middle Ages, Lucca was the final destination of an important road, the Silk Road. Still today, Lucca preserves evidence of this precious trade, both in architecture and in craft products, which can be bought here.

Today Gabriele Calabrese will led us to the discovering of the glorious past of the city where, in the 13th century, merchants came from all over to sell their silk and raw wool products or to buy very precious fabrics. From Piazza San Michele, the heart of the city and ancient place of exchange for silk merchants, to the so-called "Loggia dei Mercanti", the first seat of the Chamber of Commerce of Lucca which preserves the memory of the prized trade on its logo, represented by the torsello: a small bale of coiled and tied raw silk.

People also came to Lucca to learn the art of silk processing, but of these secrets, the “Lucchesi” were very jealous and made an oath not to teach them to others. Even today we find artisans, real artists, who work silk in the way it was handed down to them, offering anyway a modern design that looks to the future.