The town of Bagni di Lucca, which is the base of an important spa complex, has a population of about 6700 inhabitants. The Villa Fiori, by the engineer Paolinelli who built it at the end of the XVIII century, and the XII-century Parish of San Paolo can be admired inside the town.

The territory of Bagni di Lucca has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, as suggested by the discovery of squared Ligurian tombs dating to the VIII century B.C., but, in the ancient times, it owed its fame to its thermal baths that were known by the Etruscans and the Romans.
Apart from the data provided by archaeology, it is necessary to read the parchments of the Archivio Arcivescovile of Lucca to know the first information on this town, in particular in IV/V-century documents.
Around the year 1000, Bagni di Lucca entered the feudal period with the settlement of the Suffredinghi, Porcareschi and Lupari families. The control of Lucca over this citadel started to be established around the XII century, when its feudatories were driven out of it and Bagni was annexed to the Republic of Lucca inside the "vicaria", an ancient territorial unit of the Val di Lima.
Since the XIV century, thanks to Lucca, the spa became a famous tourist destination crowded by people from everywhere in the world. The legalization of the game of chance became a further element of development in the area because it enhanced the society life of this place.
With the creation of the Grand Duchy of Lorraine, Leopold II, who did not appreciate the night-life, Bagni di Lucca had to close down its casino in 1853 and oriented its economy towards the local handicraft. The affluence of European wealthy people looking for entertainment slowly diminished with time, but, at the same time, the art of the "figurinai" of Bagni di Lucca, namely artisans that create statuettes and cribs in paper-mâché, plaster, and resin. With the Unity of Italy, Bagni di Lucca was detached from the territory of the Val di Lima and became an autonomous town.
In the course of time, Bagni earned the name of "Land of prince and poets" for its wonderful villas that hosted many famous political and aristocratic people coming from all over Europe, but also people of Art and Literature. Some of the most admired visitors were the princess Elisa Bonaparte, the Dukes of Borbone, poets and writers such as Montaigne, Shelley, Lord Byron, Heinrich Heine, Lamartine and Eugenio Montale.
As it has already said, in Bagni di Lucca there is an important thermal complex that has been used at least since 1291, but it was probably known in the Etruscan-Roman period, too. This complex is one of the symbols of the XX-century Belle Epoque and it is constituted of 19 hot springs with a temperature between 37° and 54° C. with an extraordinary therapeutic and regenerating power.