Probably known since Roman antiquity, the hot springs of Bagni di Lucca gained great renown in the 11th century, during the time of Countess Matilda of Canossa, until becoming during the 19th century one of the most elegant spas in Europe.
Bagni di Lucca was a true elite destination of European tourism before the coastal boom made people forget this corner of Lucca, which the English called the "Switzerland of Tuscany". It was precisely the Anglo-Saxons who were the first to discover Bagni di Lucca and the therapeutic properties of its waters, loving it to the point of turning it into a small second homeland.
Indeed, the village became - and even today traces of that shining British explosion can be discerned - an exclusive retreat for nobility and diplomats from all over Europe, accredited to the court of Lucca and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, as well as a destination for illustrious guests, such as the poets Byron, Shelley, Lever, Giusti, Monti and then in the twentieth century Carducci, Pascoli, Montale; writers such as Dumas and musicians like Strauss, Listz, Paganini, Puccini, Mascagni; politicians and rulers such as Napoleonides, Queen Margherita, D’Azeglio, Galeazzo Ciano; religious figures like St. Luigi Gonzaga, St. Gemma Galgani, and even Popes, like Sixtus IV and V.
