Lucca in the province of the same name in north-western Tuscany is a fortified town with a large number of historic monuments, in particular churches, but also villas and palaces, which combine to form a very interesting open-air museum. The famous Italian composers, Luigi Boccherini and Giacomo Puccini, were both born in Lucca.
The town received the award for the variety and scale of the relations it had maintained for over 25 years with its twin towns of Abingdon (United Kingdom), Colmar (France), Schongau (Germany), Sint-Niklaas (Belgium) and South San Francisco (USA).
