Italy Tuscany Rentals

Firenze	Prato	Pistoia	Lucca	Versilia
Pisa	Siena	Arezzo	Golf	Wellness

Pistoia is a beautiful medieval town that lies 67 m. above sea level at the north-western edge of the plain of Florence, near the initial ramifications of the Apennines, approximately 35 km. from the regional capital.
Pistoia is a tourist mixture of history, art, folk traditions, monuments, nature and gastronomic specialities. Among the famous towns in Tuscany, Pistoia shows original claracteristics and it is really worth sighseeing it.

Originally a Roman centre (Pistoria), under the Lombards it became a defensive stronghold and seat of `castaldia'. After a period of rule by bishops, it became a free municipality with a Statute dating back to 1177, one of the oldest in Italy. The 13th century was its period of major prosperity, though this was hindered by constant battles with Florence. In 1306 Pistoia was conquered by the latter and this was the start of its decline. It lost all autonomy and formed part of the Florentine possessions in 1530. It then shared the fortunes of the Grand Duchy until 1859, when it was united with the Kingdom of Italy.

Pistoia is home to buildings and churches from several art periods and the most beautiful of Pisano's pulpits, whose extremely accurate and realistic bas-reliefs anticipated the perfection of the Renaissance statues.

Pistoia has numerous and important monuments: Duomo (12th-13th century, housing terracottas by A. Della Robbia and silver reredos by S. Jacopo, one of the major works of art by Italian silversmiths) with Baptistry (14th century, Gothic) and bell-tower (13th century); Palazzo Pretorio (14th century), Palazzo del Comune (13th-14th century), therefore the characteristic Piazza della Sala, the Hospital del Ceppo and many others.
Cultural Institutions: State Archives, libraries, Capitulary Museum, Civic Museum (paintings of the Tuscan School of 13th-16th centuries). Diocesan Museum, Turati Foundation.

Pistoia is also an important center for the contemporary art; in Pistoia the moon in the well really exists: it is a modern art work by the Florentine artist Gianni Ruffi. The moon in the well, in piazza Giovanni XXXIII, maintains all the characteristics of its creative language: a synthetic, playful and ironic language. Ruffi, pop and popular artist in the true sense of the word, has created various open air installations and many personal exhibits in Pistoia, Florence, Rome, New York, Bologna, Basil, Milan, Munich, Naples, Prato.
Walking around the streets of the city centre you will encounter the reproduction of an ancient well, perhaps of the XV century, in which a crescent moon seems to have fallen by chance. A sculpture, but also a metaphor, a game, the materialisation of an ancient popular saying.
It was a way to create a dialogue in the city between the most modern art and the ancient one: Pistoia, with Prato and Florence, is part of the SMAC (Metropolitan System for Contemporary Art), and for years has been organising exhibitions of great importance such as the Centro di Palazzo Fabroni Arti Visive contemporanee.

Therefore, Pistoia is one of the national centres dedicated to the circulation of what is experimented in art in our times. To liven city spaces, once the city centre was paved, the local administration thought of Ruffi, for his being a top representative of Italian contemporary art and his abundant stays in the city: born in Florence in 1938, self-taught, and formed in the climate of the artistic culture of the '50s through figurative/expressionist experiences.

Surroundings: do not forget that 4 Km far from Pistoia there is the very beautiful Zoological Garden, one of the most complete in all Italy, Montecatini Terme, Monsummano Terme (wellness & spa), Abetone & Cutigliano (winter ski resort, winter sports), Pescia (floriculture), Collodi (Pinocchio’s monumental park).

For those wishing to visit Tuscany, Pistoia is in an ideal position close to all the main tourist centres. These centres can easily be reached by car or train, with the advantage of being in a quiet town surrounded by trees at the foot of the Pistoiese Mountains. Florence can be reached by car in about 20 minutes and Montecatini Terme in 15 minutes.