Montecarlo is a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions (''Regions of Italy, regioni'') and provinces (''Provinces ...

'' (municipality) in the

Province of Lucca The province of Lucca ( it, provincia di Lucca) is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lucca. It has an area of and a total population of about 390,000. There are 33 ''comuni'' (singular: '' comune'') in the p ...

in the Italian region

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

, located about west of

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

and about east of

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and '' comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as on ...

History

Fort and village Montecarlo was founded in 1333 by future Bohemian king and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (Montecarlo in Italian means "Charles' Mountain"), who freed the nearby city of Lucca from the Pisan rule. A true settlement, however, appeared only after the Florentines destroyed the nearby castle of Vivinaia, and the authorities of the

Republic of Lucca The Republic of Lucca ( it, Repubblica di Lucca) was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Lucca in Tuscany, which lasted from 1160 to 1805. Its territory extended beyond the city of Lucca, reaching the surr ...

moved the population to the same hill of Charles' castle. Montecarlo was a possession of the Republic of Florence from 1437.

Main sights

* Sant'Andrea- Collegiate church first built in the 14th century, but much of the structure, including the interior, was refurbished in 1783. It is the tallest building in the village. The crypt retains the

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later ...

. * San Piero in Campo- Pieve or ''rural parish church'' at the foot of Montecarlo's castle. The building, among the first mentioned in Early Medieval Lucchese documents, has one of the oldest bell towers in the whole diocese of

. The church was completely rebuilt in the 12th century and again after the village was destroyed in the 14th century. *''Rocca del Cerruglio'' *''Teatro dei Rassicurati''

Sister cities

Montecarlo is twinned with: * Karlštejn, Czech Republic, since 2002 *

Althen-des-Paluds Althen-des-Paluds (; Provençal: ''Lei Palús'' or ''Alten'') is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The commune is crossed by the river Sorgue. Name of the city The name of ...

, France, since 2003 * Mylau, Germany, since 2006

References

External links

Official website of Comune of Montecarlo
Cities and towns in Tuscany Populated places established in the 1330s {{Lucca-geo-stub

History

Main sights

Sister cities

See also

References

External links