Garfagnana is quite different from the rest of Lucca’s territory because for centuries it was a border area dominated in turn by Lucca, Florence and Modena and traversed by French and Imperial armies. The Apennine watershed was crossed every year by shepherds from Emilia using many paths that merged into the “Via Romea”, a road that led pilgrims from France and northern Europe all the way to Rome. This long and complex history has left many interesting traces in civil and religious architecture as well as in the arts and local traditions.