Via Francigena Entry Point - Museum La Casa del Boia

About the museum

The Via Francigena Entry Point is a cultural complex in the Baluardo di San Salvatore, one of the bastions of Lucca’s 16th-century walls. The museum occupies the so-called Casa del Boia (Executioner’s House), a simple stone building leaning against the walls, with small irregular windows and a large doorway opening onto the basement of the bastion. The name recalls the executioner Tommaso Jona, to whom the house was assigned in 1825.

For centuries Lucca has been a stop for pilgrims on the Via Francigena, drawn since the Middle Ages by the Volto Santo kept in the cathedral. On the ground floor of the museum is the immersive multimedia route “Francigena Emotion: il viaggio, la fede, la bellezza”; the upper floor hosts educational and interactive routes on the Via Francigena and on the history of Lucca. The complex includes a second site, the Casermetta di San Salvatore, used as a space for rest and refreshment.

The museum is a few steps from Porta Elisa, built in the 19th century in the Napoleonic period, and close to the church of San Francesco and the Museo nazionale di Villa Guinigi.

Highlights

• Immersive route “Francigena Emotion” on the ground floor
• Educational and interactive routes on the Via Francigena
• Housed in the former executioner’s house on the Baluardo San Salvatore
• Casermetta di San Salvatore as a space for rest
• Starting point for pilgrims on the Via Francigena

Permanent exhibition

• Francigena Emotion: il viaggio, la fede, la bellezza – Immersive multimedia route on the ground floor about the pilgrims’ journey along the Via Francigena.

Founded

2016

Visitors per year

approx. 4,416

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

According to Lucca tourism, admission to the museum is free.

Accessibility

The museum is temporarily closed; no reopening date has been announced.

Kids & families

The museum is temporarily closed; no reopening date has been announced.

Getting there & parking

The museum is on Via dei Bacchettoni, beside the Baluardo San Salvatore of the Lucca walls, a short distance from Porta Elisa.

Amenities & dining

The museum is temporarily closed; no reopening date has been announced.

Events & venue rental

The museum is temporarily closed; no reopening date has been announced.