The Cathedral is in both a Gothic and Romanesque style. The polychrome marble facade reminds one of the Cathedral in Pisa. The principle differences between the two are the bas-reliefs and representations dedicated to St. Martin, the patron saint of both the Cathedral and the town. There’s also a portico with three arches where it’s said that pilgrims traveling along the Via Francigena used to trade with money changers. Lucca was, in fact, an important pilgrim destination and a point of connection along the Via Francigena route.The sculptural decoration inside the portico was begun in 1233 and uses pink, green and white marble to magnificent effect. Notice the inticate detail. Some say that the story behind the mix of columns on the facade origiantes with a competition the Lucca population started to see who made the prettiest; in the end they just used all the entries for this mix matched effect.