Although not famed in the way that other Italian cities like Florence and Rome are Lucca has some very characteristic museums all of which are worth even a cursory visit.

Here is my list of Lucca’s museums:

National Museum of Palazzo Mansi

Villa Guinigi National Museum

Guinigi Tower

Clock tower

Museo della zecca

Palazzo Pfanner

Casa Puccini

Cartoon Museum

Domus Romana

Via Francigena museum

Cathedral Museum

Natural History museum

Pfanner Museum

Cesare Bicchi Botanical Museum

Ragghianti Foundation

Barsanti and Matteucci museum

National Archive

Torture Museum

Giglio theatre Museum

Crossbow museum

I count twenty museums and wonder how many visitors to this gracious Tuscan city may realise the quantity of museums it has.

We have been quite diligent in discovering these places. However, one museum we’d never visited before was the Museo Della Zecca – the Mint museum. Situated on the western part of the city walls near San Paolino Bulwark the museum occupies an old guardhouse. It is rather small but within its confines contains no less than four separate exhibitions.

The first deals with its principal concern: coins and their minting. I’ve never been very interested in numismatics myself but realised that the museum’s collection is extensive and includes items going back from the nineteenth century to the Etruscan era.

The curator and ticket issuer of the museum gave us a demonstration of how a press, based on a prototype invented by Leonardo da Vinci, first produced mass supplies of coins. We received a sample each which was generous of him but regretfully would never have bought us a cappuccino!

The second exhibition regarded the manufacture of cameos in the Lucchesia. I suddenly became aware that only one person could have organized such a precious collection including examples of the age when Lucca was ruled by Napoleon’s sister Elisa. The curator confirmed my hunch and indeed it was none other than Gabriele, the son of a noted Japanese concert pianist and an Italian antiquarian. A few years ago I had assisted Gabriele in his researches and met up with him again in London. Two engravings gifted by Gabriele for my labours now grace our living room. Gabriele has since published his findings in a limited edition volume priced Euro 200 and is a valued colleague in a distinguished Rome auction house.

The third exhibition involved that immortal Italian children’s book character Pinocchio represented here by historical puppets and dolls, all rather charming.

The last exhibition weaved around the way that coins’ profiles can cast light on changing fashions like women’s hair styling. This aspect was equally well-presented and illustrated.

After exiting from the miniscule but captivating Museo Della Zecca we continued onwards to complete our walk along the almost three mile circuit of Lucca’s walls.

Few cities can have such a seductive promenade as that afforded by Lucca’s walls. The sequence of shady walks with views not only of the palazzi and campanili of the historic city but also of the extensive panorama beyond stretching to the Apennine and Apuan mountains will always enchant me no matter how many times I tread these ramparts.