From the medieval city center to the Valle di Orsigna
For the Easter weekend and on long weekends during spring, Pistoia offers the opportunity to spend 2 days savoring art, local cuisine and landscapes. The medieval city is perfect for leisurely explorations, including historic piazzas, museums and temporary exhibitions. In the surrounds, the countryside and hills offer up moments of relaxation and well-being in nature.
Devote your mornings to discovering the medieval zebra-striped churches, so called because of the alternation of white Carrara marble and green Prato marble that creates striking decorative effects. Set out from Piazza del Duomo, the historic heart of the city overlooked by the Cathedral of Saint Zeno and the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Corte. Inside the Cathedral are the Silver Altar of San Jacopo, an extraordinary work of goldsmithing made between 1287 and 1456, and Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Reliquary containing a relic of the city’s patron saint.
Continue with a visit to the Sant’Andrea Church, home to the famous pulpit by Giovanni Pisano (1298–1301), and the San Giovanni Fuorcivitas Church, recognizable by its 2-tone lateral façade. Luca della Robbia’s Visitation, an intense sculptural group in white glazed terracotta, makes this place worth a stop.
For lunch, treat yourself to a break “sulla Sala,” as the Pistoiese say, referring to Piazza della Sala, where numerous establishments offering traditional Tuscan cuisine are concentrated. Among the dishes to try are maccheroni sull’anatra (macaroni on duck) made with fresh pasta and served with the ragout of Muscovy duck, typical of these areas.
In the afternoon, devote time to the city museums such as the Civic Museum of Antique Art in the Palazzo Comunale, the Museum of the Spedale del Ceppo, the Palazzo Fabroni Museum of 20ᵗʰ-century and Contemporary Art and the Fernando Melani House-Studio. For more information, check out the official Civic Museums page.
Pistoia Musei’s exhibition venues also offer an opportunity to journey through the history of the area: the Antico Palazzo dei Vescovi Museum, the Palazzo de’ Rossi | 20ᵗʰ-Century Collections, the San Salvatore Museum and Palazzo Buontalenti which, until July 26, will host the I am an Architect – Ettore Sottsass.
To discover the city from an unusual perspective, you can visit Underground Pistoia, along a route traversing the underground rooms below the Antico Spedale del Ceppo.
Devote your mornings to discovering the medieval zebra-striped churches, so called because of the alternation of white Carrara marble and green Prato marble that creates striking decorative effects. Set out from Piazza del Duomo, the historic heart of the city overlooked by the Cathedral of Saint Zeno and the Baptistery of San Giovanni in Corte. Inside the Cathedral are the Silver Altar of San Jacopo, an extraordinary work of goldsmithing made between 1287 and 1456, and Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Reliquary containing a relic of the city’s patron saint.
Continue with a visit to the Sant’Andrea Church, home to the famous pulpit by Giovanni Pisano (1298–1301), and the San Giovanni Fuorcivitas Church, recognizable by its 2-tone lateral façade. Luca della Robbia’s Visitation, an intense sculptural group in white glazed terracotta, makes this place worth a stop.
For lunch, treat yourself to a break “sulla Sala,” as the Pistoiese say, referring to Piazza della Sala, where numerous establishments offering traditional Tuscan cuisine are concentrated. Among the dishes to try are maccheroni sull’anatra (macaroni on duck) made with fresh pasta and served with the ragout of Muscovy duck, typical of these areas.
In the afternoon, devote time to the city museums such as the Civic Museum of Antique Art in the Palazzo Comunale, the Museum of the Spedale del Ceppo, the Palazzo Fabroni Museum of 20ᵗʰ-century and Contemporary Art and the Fernando Melani House-Studio. For more information, check out the official Civic Museums page.
Pistoia Musei’s exhibition venues also offer an opportunity to journey through the history of the area: the Antico Palazzo dei Vescovi Museum, the Palazzo de’ Rossi | 20ᵗʰ-Century Collections, the San Salvatore Museum and Palazzo Buontalenti which, until July 26, will host the I am an Architect – Ettore Sottsass.
To discover the city from an unusual perspective, you can visit Underground Pistoia, along a route traversing the underground rooms below the Antico Spedale del Ceppo.
Unfurling a few miles from the center are the landscapes of the Pistoiese Mountains, which in the territories of Sambuca Pistoiese, Marliana, San Marcello Piteglio and Abetone Cutigliano, take on increasingly mountainous characteristics.
About a 30-minute drive takes you to the Valle di Orsigna, an oasis of peace in the heart of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. Here you can walk through the woods to the Albero con gli Occhi (Tree with Eyes), the evocative place of meditation dear to journalist Tiziano Terzani, who had created his “little Tibet” in this valley.
In Orsigna, you can visit buildings connected to chestnut processing, such as the Metato and Antico Molino di Giamba, the old chestnut drying hut and the ancient mill that availed of the power of water to grind dried chestnuts to produce sweet flour. These places form part of one of the routes of the Ecomuseum of the Pistoia Mountains, a widespread museum system dedicated to preserving the memory of traditional mountain activities.
Unfurling a few miles from the center are the landscapes of the Pistoiese Mountains, which in the territories of Sambuca Pistoiese, Marliana, San Marcello Piteglio and Abetone Cutigliano, take on increasingly mountainous characteristics.
About a 30-minute drive takes you to the Valle di Orsigna, an oasis of peace in the heart of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. Here you can walk through the woods to the Albero con gli Occhi (Tree with Eyes), the evocative place of meditation dear to journalist Tiziano Terzani, who had created his “little Tibet” in this valley.
In Orsigna, you can visit buildings connected to chestnut processing, such as the Metato and Antico Molino di Giamba, the old chestnut drying hut and the ancient mill that availed of the power of water to grind dried chestnuts to produce sweet flour. These places form part of one of the routes of the Ecomuseum of the Pistoia Mountains, a widespread museum system dedicated to preserving the memory of traditional mountain activities.