Lucca is one of the few Tuscan towns that retained its original urban structure. The ancient center was enclosed and protected by the Roman walls. Lucca developed within them until the end of the 19th century, creating an interesting superimposition of historical styles. Today the walls play an important part in town life, shielding the streets of the center from traffic and creating a ring of green around them. Lucca has developed into a modern city, at the same time retaining the characteristics of a little country town where ancient and modern coexist. Lucca's location is ideal; it is only 30 minutes from Pisa and the Mediterranean and 1 hour from Florence.

The classrooms of Centro Koinè are in historic premises in downtown Lucca between the Piazza dell' Anfiteatro and the Torre Guinigi. On the first day, each student will receive a folder with a monthly program of cultural activities and excursions, a guide with useful addresses for the stay in Lucca, and a map of the city. A collection of video tapes of Italian films is available to students in the afternoons.
A fax service is available in the office as well as an Internetpoint with 2 PCs and WLAN. All classrooms have air condition. A wine and gourmet information office is available to recommend restaurants and advise you on the purchase of Tuscan wines as well as offer wine tastings, cookery courses and visits to farms.

How to arrive...... 

by Car:

Coming from Florence:

Take highway A 11 Firenze-Mare, exit at Altopascio, situated 20 km from the centre, or take the exit at Capannori, 6 km from the centre or exit directly at Lucca, 1 km from the centre.

Coming from Pisa:

Take Superstrada SS 12 from Abetone and the Brenner Pass.

Coming from Viareggio:

Take highway “Bretella” Viareggio-Lucca, exit Lucca

by Train:

Lucca enjoys a wonderfully practical geographic position:

20 km away from Pisa

70 km away from Florence

25 km away from Viareggio

There is a daily service of the lines Florence-Viareggio, Pisa-Lucca, and Aulla-Lucca.

by Bus:

Bus companies and lines including telephone numbers as follows:

by Airplane:

There are numerous low-priced air connections to Florence (“Amerigo Vespucci”), Pisa (“Galileo Galilei”), Bologna (“Guglielmo Marconi”), and Milan (“Malpensa” and “Linate”).

For information on flights consult your travel agency or directly visit the airlines online.

Coming from the Airport of Florence:

Take highway A 11, exit Lucca.

Coming from the Airport of Pisa:

Take highway A 11, exit Lucca or SS 12 from Abetone and the Brenner Pass.

Coming from the Airport of Milan:

Take highway A 1 Milan-Bologna-Rome-Naples

Have a look at the site of the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati who organizes an Opera Theatre and Music Festival every year in Lucca and whose artists participate also in the Italian courses of Koinè: www.ccmoperalucca.org

For an unsolicited review of the Koinè Center Lucca program from a student's perspective, click on this press link: Grapevine.

You want to know more about Lucca and its secrets, have a look on these articles:  NY Times article1 and NY Times article2

	My partner Annette and I are college teachers and researchers who came by chance to live outside Lucca for a sabbatical year in 1998-99. Annette saw Koinè as she was touring the streets of Lucca and had the strong intuition that it would be a good place to study Italian. Was she ever right. The school offers a wonderful learning environment with small classes, great teachers, and excellent strategies to get one over one's fear of embarrassment. Koinè has proved to be much more than a great place to learn Italian. It became our core community in Lucca. The generosity and openness of Isabella, Stefano, our teachers Christina and Romano, and the many other teachers we also met, helped make Koinè/Lucca a real home. For this reason we return every year and now own a small place outside the walls.             The benefits I have derived from the school have been magnified by their relation to my work. Because of the rich intellectual background of the directors and staff, the school has been able to link my language study to my research interests (Italian cinema, history, and popular culture) in a way that has been both stimulating and enormously time-saving.             So, I would encourage anybody thinking of coming to Italy to study Italian to choose Lucca and Koinè. They rock. Cari Koinesi: grazie di tutto.
	Paul, student from Usa

	I had one of the best weeks of my entire life in Lucca! Everything went like clockwork: the Sargentis were charming, school friendly, other students interesting, town fascinating, weather pleasant, food brilliant. Spoke Italian nearly all the time, and I feel about 20 years younger. Thanks for all your arrangements.
	Philippa, Student from Great Britain

	First, I would like to tell you that I had a marvelous experience being a student at your center. It was great fun, I learned a good deal, and I met some very interesting people. The organization of the course work was excellent. The different components-- listening to cassettes, reading articles, playing word games and talking with different partners or small groups--served the students very well. I was very impressed with the teachers' willingness to allow spontaneous conversation among the students to continue and to use it as part of the lessons themselves. 'Real conversations' prove far more interesting and generate a real urgency to grapple with the language. The people of Lucca with whom I interacted were extremely polite, friendly, helpful, and very tolerate of my emerging italian. I congratulate you on your excellent school, and do hope to return some day.
	Melissa Anderson, Student