The National Museum of Villa Guinigi is located in the north-eastern area of the city of Lucca, outside the thirteenth-century walls and subsequently incorporated by the sixteenth-century walls. The National Museum of Villa Guinigi is the museum of the city and its territory, as it exhibits one of the richest and most interesting collections of works of art produced for Lucca by Lucca or foreign artists working in the city for ecclesiastical and secular clients. The main nucleus of the collections dates back to the indemaniamenti of ecclesiastical assets before and after the unification of Italy, to which were then added finds from excavations in the city, new acquisitions, gifts and deposits from various entities. In the halls of the Villa, which was the residence of Paolo Guinigi, lord of Lucca from 1400 to 1430, in late Gothic style, the history of the city is retraced: the route starts from the eighth century BC with the archaeological collection, to arrive at the eighteenth century with works mainly with a sacred subject. The Villa, one of the oldest and most prestigious buildings in the city, was built starting from 1413 by Paolo Guinigi, lord of Lucca until 1430. Born as a suburban villa and summer residence of representation, the building was surrounded by a large enclosed garden of which today only a portion remains, overlooked by the main façade, with the long loggia. After the death of Guinigi, the building suffered serious damage until in 1924 it was destined to house the various city collections as a civic museum. In 1948 it was sold to the State which provided for the restoration of the building and the new ordering of the works. It was inaugurated as a National Museum in 1968.