Pistoia - Palazzo del Comune

To the left of the cathedral, at the far end of the Piazza del Duomo, is the Palazzo del Comune, a bare and forbidding building which with its symmetry and solidity is of powerful effect. It was begun in 1294, during the period of office of Giano della Bella, a Florentine governor who ruled the city fairly and well, but thereafter work came to a halt; it was resumed in 1334, and the building, now enlarged, was completed in 1385. The bridge linking it with the cathedral was added in 1637. The facade is divided vertically into five sections; at the base is a portico, above this are double-arched windows, and above these again triple-arched windows. In the center of the facade can be seen a large Médici coat of arms, with the keys of St Peter (for the Médici Popes Leo X and Clement VII). To the left of the central window is a black marble head, the significance of which has various explanations; one story is that it represents the Moorish King of Majorca who was defeated by Pisa in 1114.