Piazza Napoleone, commonly known as Piazza Grande, is the main square of Lucca, the place where every year in July is held one of the most important music festivals in Italy, the Lucca Summer Festival.In this area was built the vast Augusta Fortress, residence of Castruccio Castracani, Duke of Lucca in the first half of the 14th century. The huge complex, which covered about a fifth of the city, was destroyed by the population in 1370.The square was built in 1806, during the Napoleonic domination, by Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, sister of the Emperor Napoleon. This is the reason why the square was named after the French emperor.Under the direction of the architect Giovanni Lazzarini and of the French Pierre-Theodore Bienimé, the square began to develop in the 19th century. The idea was to give greater importance to the Palazzo Ducale, the fulcrum of the city’s public life, and to place a huge statue of Napoleon in the center of the square, to show gratitude to the emperor.