If, “by magic”, we were taken back to Pistoia a few centuries ago, what would we find? Would we still recognise the city? Yes, we probably would, if we stayed in the historic centre, all things considered not much has changed, at least with regard to the city’s basic outlines. We would recognise the Cathedral and Cathedral square, the Town Hall and the Baptistery (which, in the early Middle Ages, was the little church of Santa Maria in Corte); but the bishop’s residence was transformed in the eighteenth century, and the relative building, which seals the southern side of the square, was turned into a private residence. Whereas the northern side, where there is now the Prefecture and Monte dei Paschi, was home to the severe-looking, sixteenth- century, noble building of the Opera di San Jacopo (and nearby a small square that no longer exists with the intriguing name of Pan square) and an incomplete building, where there was an inn popularly known as “Inferno”.
La Sala has not changed; it was, and still is the market centre, with its stone benches that characterise the shops even today, and with the roads nearby, which are still characterised by typical, historical names: via del Lastrone, because there was a large stone where they sold “il pescio” (fish), as it is written in a document; via di Stracceria, where old clothes and rags were hung out; via del Cacio, via dei Cipollini. Nearby, you could find the tables of the most well-known inns: Leone’s (there is still an alley with this name), Tina’s, in via della Nave and Serena’s, in via della Posta Vecchia.
One hotel was known for being able to offer the comfort of water in the room, in the sense that those who stayed there could lower a bucket from the window using a special pulley and fill up from the well below: and the street behind the Cathedral is still called via dell’Acqua. Some roads or suburbs bore the name of ancient trades: the suburb of Soppedanieri (now via Crispi) was home to the makers of chests, trunks and cabinets, which were once called soppedani (from the Latin sub pedes, because they were kept at the foot of the bed and contained the brides’ trousseau), the suburb of Galigheria, where galighe or shoes were made; via degli Speziali, dei Barbieri, dei Setaioli, degli Orafi and dei Fabbri, at the end of which – in the church of San Michele in Bonaccio, which no longer exists and which was later deconsecrated – the factory of the celebrated surgical instruments of Pistoia was established. In what is now piazza degli Ortaggi (or Sala nuova, because it was added to the old one) there was the “convenient place” of the brothel, where prostitutes ran their business.
But for less rushed and more refined pleasures, you could go to the “stufe” or public baths, where you could find pleasant female company, as well as hot water. Everyone soaked in great tubs, through which an axis was set with tempting delicacies placed on top: it is better not to investigate what happened under the water… There is still a via della Stufa in the city; but the name amusingly given to what was once the most well-known house has gone: via del Pizzicore, because men went there with that particular itch.
It is truly a shame that some old moralistic administrator changed its name to via Puccinelli. Behind the Madonna dell’Umiltà runs Brontola alley: according to a persistent popular tale, the name was chosen because of the two old grumblers, who lived there; however, it is more correct to say that it was because of the wind, which makes a constant murmuring sound when it blows into the bottleneck roads