Lying in the middle of a valley which contains 23 mountain hamlets rich in history and stupendous scenery is Bagni di Lucca, the second largest municipality in the province after Lucca.

Referred to as a “Land of princes and poets” until recent times, set at the foot of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and perfectly placed at the confluence of the rivers Serchio and Lima, it deserves to be designated an oasis of peace and calm, off the main traffic routes which pass by Lucca (27 km. away) and Versilia (48 km.).
The little town, surrounded by hills intersected by clear streams full of fish and across three-quarters of whose territory spread ancient chestnut forests, lives in perfect harmony with its pollution-free environment. There is even an oasis for fauna here, and a protected area: the Balzo Nero.

Settlement is distributed through the villages lying in the valley, but also on the right and left sides of the Lima river. The area has been inhabited since the bronze age (as can be seen in the 8th century B.C. box tombs); while the thermal springs made it even more important during the Etruscan and Roman periods (examples of Roman settlements are to be found at: Brandeggio; Villa Therentiana, now Pieve dei Monti di Villa; Vico and others).
The earliest documentary evidence dates back to 4th and 5th century parchments in the Archive of the Archbishopric of Lucca.Between the 10th and 11th centuries the powerful Soffredinghi, Porcareschi andLupari families dominated the valley.
From the 12th century the city of Lucca began to occupy the valley, expelling the feudal families and uniting the whole territory of the Valle della Lima to form part of the Republic of Lucca.
The statute of Lucca of 1308 united the territory into a single Vicariate know as Della Val di Lima, an arrangement that lasted up to the unification of Italy.
From the 14th century Lucca would take a particular interest in the thermal springs at Bagni di Lucca, turning it into the most important curative resort in Italy. The Republic welcomed foreign guests of high social rank seeking cures, in an oasis of peace where they could find ways of passing their time (there was theatre and gambling was made legal in the 16th century).
With the Napoleonic Principality, the court of Elisa, which moved to Bagni di Lucca during the summer months, attracted a huge number of foreigners, not just to the thermal springs but to the worldly pleasures to be found in and around Casino.
It reached its apogee during the Duchy of Bourbon. Bagni di Lucca became the summer capital of the state and a colony of foreigners (Britons, French, Russians and Americans) gathered around the court.
The Casino, which was rebuilt, enlarged and refurbishedin 1837, provided sumptuous gaming rooms and organised balls of historic opulence and ostentation.
Evidence still remains of that 19th century elegance. Aristocratic villas surrounded by parks full of rare orboreal essences (Villa Ada, Villa Fiori, Villa Reale and the patrician residence of Bagno alla Villa) inspired poets from the 16th to 19th centuries who came here to write:Montaigne, Shelley, Byron, Heine, Lamartine, Montale. Everything was embellished by the presence of the cream of European nobility and the most important courts: Princess Elisa Bonapart, the Dukes of Bourbon, the Archdukes of Tuscany.
The slow decline of Bagni di Lucca coincided with the transfer of the Duchy of Lucca from Carlo Ludovico to Archduke Leopoldo II of Tuscany.
The archduke spent his summers here, but he was not very interested in society life and in 1853 would close the Casino, forcing the owners to move abroad.
All in all, Bagni di Lucca gained little from the unification of Italy.