DEN OF INIQUITY

This looks like an ordinary little square within an Italian town. It is and it isn't. There is a story behind it that you won't find in the guide books.

A hundred years ago, more or less, the three entry ways to this area were blocked up with building height stones. No entry, no exit. Why? Because it was a conclave of thieves, prostitutes and murderers and the mayor of the time ordered it to be done. Mayors before him had failed to clean up the den of iniquity. The denizens could vanish into the labyrinth of alleyways and cellars.

Once the whole area was blocked the residents escaped over the roof tops. I believe some tried to hang on but could not. A hundred years passed and the area fell into decay until, not too many years ago, an enlightened mayor decided to restore the area. I have to admit I passed by one of the blocked up alleyways without giving it a thought. I had no idea there was anything of interest beyond and indeed, neither did some Lucchese.

It was reopened about ten years ago. Perhaps the mistake in reconstruction was making shops with big windows on the ground floors but otherwise it is as it has been for centuries.
The new paving stones are copies of the ancient ones but their newness is a giveaway of
civic restoration.

Curiously, it is still a neighborhood apart. Tourists do not know about the twisty alleys which lead to the square and narrow streets. We were recognized as strangers instantly and people faded into doorways.

Lucca is crowded with tourists, all a little dismayed at the dreary aspect of the beautiful little city. It wasn't raining but it was overcast and damp. Sitting having coffee at the Piazza San Michele I saw this, a packed lunch trio upon whom the mob had moved in.
THE MOB