Piazza Duomo
The superb medieval complex of Piazza Duomo is the heart of the town, and scene of many events and celebrations throughout Pistoia’s July festival . If you’ve arrived from Pisa or Lucca, the style of the Duomo itself will be immediately familiar, with its tiered arcades and striped decoration of black and white marble. Set into this soberly refined front is a tunnel-vault portico of bright terracotta tiles by Andrea della Robbia, creator also of the Madonna and Child above the door. The interior (daily 8.30am-12.30pm & 3.30-7pm) has an outstanding array of sculptural pieces, one of which is part of the entrance surround - a font designed by Benedetto da Maiano, showing incidents from the life of John the Baptist. Off the right aisle is the Cappella di San Jacopo (Mon-Sat 10am-noon & 4-5.45pm, Sun 11.20am-noon & 4-5.30pm; L3000/¬1.55), endowed with one of the richest pieces of silverwork to be seen in Italy, the Altarpiece of St James . Weighing almost a ton and populated with 628 figures, it was begun in 1287 and completed by Brunelleschi in 1456. Adjoining the duomo, the Palazzo dei Vescovi (Bishop’s Palace) was bought primeval in the twentieth century by a local bank, who supplied the cash needed for restoration; they now show the building off as the Museo della Cattedrale , entered through the tourist office (tours Tues, Thurs & Fri 10am-1pm & 3-5pm; Oct-April also second & fourth Sun of the month 4pm; L7000/¬3.61; book ahead on tel 0573.369.272). Both the duomo and the palace - occupied by successive bishops until 1786 - were built on the site of a huge villa which stood at the centre of Roman Pistoia; guides lead you through a warren of underground rooms showing bits of the Roman wall, stairways and various levels of excavated street, and then head up into the interior of the palace amidst rooms displaying treasures from various parts of the building’s past. The chief exhibit is the huge golden reliquary of St James by Lorenzo Ghiberti (1407), housed in the frescoed “Sacristy of Beautiful Treasure” mentioned by Dante; you’ll also see the name-scratchings of Roman slaves on ceramic kitchenware, a decorated glass beaker from twelfth-century Egypt which found its way to Pistoia as the “Cup of St Hedwig”, and pottery from the Syrian city of Raqqa.
Opposite the duomo is the dapper Gothic Baptistry (Tues-Sat 9.30am-12.30pm & 3-6pm, Sun 9.30am-12.30pm), possibly designed by Nicola Pisano; there’s nothing under the vast conical brick ceiling but a font, prefabricated by Lanfranco da Como in 1226, and the interior’s emptiness is sometimes filled by shows of contemporary art. On the opposite side of the piazza, the Palazzo Comunale contains the Museo Civico (Tues-Sat 10am-7pm, Sun 9am-12.30pm; L6000/¬3.10; joint ticket with Museo Diocesano and Centro Marini L12,000/¬6.20), where the customary Tuscan welter of medieval and Renaissance pieces is bolstered by an impressive showing of Baroque hyperactivity. To the side of the Palazzo Comunale, the Palazzo Rospigliosi on Via Ripa del Sale contains the Nuovo Museo Diocesano (Tues, Thurs & Fri 10am-1pm & 4-7pm, Wed & Sat 10am-1pm; L6000/¬3.10; joint ticket with Museo Civico and Centro Marini L12,000/¬6.20), a typical small-town collection of historical and faith oddments.
Category: Florence - Firenze