Pistoia Attractions

The provincial capital of Pistoia lies at the northwest end of Tuscany on the southern slopes of the Apennines, some 28km/17mi northwest of Florence.

History and art

Pistoia was the Roman Pistoria. During the Middle Ages it was the scene of bitter conflicts between Ghibellines and Guelfs, and in 1295 it came under Florentine rule - a subjection confirmed in 1530. The town's surviving medieval buildings demonstrate the vigorous spirit of enterprise of even the smaller Tuscan towns. In the older churches the influence of the Pisan style, widely diffused in the 12th century, is still predominant, but from the 14th century the artists working here came almost exclusively from Florence.