The territory

Pistoia and its territory are located in the north of Tuscany, on the border with Emilia-Romagna, between the provinces of Florence, Prato and Lucca; the altitude varies from just a few meters above sea level to almost 2,000 meters in the Appennine mountains, and as a consequence the climate in summer is cool (22 degrees on average) with cold winters (6 degrees on average) in the mountain area, while it becomes milder in the hilly area, with average annual temperatures of 11-12 degrees, and warmer still on the plain (annual average of 14-15 degrees).
The presence of different morphological areas makes the Pistoian territory very generous in species of animals and trees, with areas of particular beauty, such as the Appennine natural parks, the marshy Padule di Fucecchio area, and the Valdinievole hills. Of widespread fame are the spa waters of Montecatini and Monsummano, mineral water springs that have been known since ancient times, but exploited to a large degree since 1370 by the magnificent Florentines nobles, and above all in the 18th century by Peter Leopold Hadsburg-Loraine, who reclaimed the surrounding marshland, built new spa centres and thus boosted the development of the town of Montecatini, which from then on has become a spa town of international renown.

Due to its position and its roads joining northern and central Italy, and its natural function as a cushion between the rich and powerful city of Florence and the proud city of Lucca, for centuries Pistoia was at the centre of the stronger cities’expansionist aims; its very origins, which can be traced to the second century BC, are linked to the wars that Rome fought against the Ligurian populations to conquer the Appenine passes: Pistoia was the outpost for the Roman troupes. Hannibal passed through the Pistoian Appenines in his epic march on Rome.
Crossed by the Via Cassia, for the whole Roman era Pistoia kept its importance for military strategy and trading: then it was conquered by the Byzantines and subsequently by the Lombards (both of these people have left traces in the local place names) and the Franks, until the city became a free commune in the 12th century. As of 1300 and for a whole century, the city was disputed by Lucca and Florence, until it fell definitively under Florentine power in 1401 to live in its shadow. In the 18th century, the enlightened government of Peter Leopold Habsburg-Lorraine gave new life to the whole Granduchy of Tuscany, Pistoia included, which has to thank the Grand Duke for completing two strategic operations for the structure of the territory: the previously quoted reclamation of the Fucecchio marshland, which for centuries had been an insalubrious area which prevented the whole of the Valdinevole from being developed; and biulding the Strada Regia Modenese to guarantee connections between Tuscany and Austria. This road now corresponds to the regional main road number 66. Constructing the road was a great task, and arduous from a technical point of view due to having to cross the Appennine passes. Great care was taken over the choices of architecture, street furniture, the ornaments at the stop-off points, which are still evident today; the Ximeniana road (named after its designer, the engineer and scientist Leonardo Ximenes) completed in 1781, boosted the whole economy of the Pistoian mountains and plains by opening up new trading routes.
After alternating fortunes, Pistoia became a province in 1927, when Fascism placed parts of the Provinces of Florence and Lucca under its government; still today the influence of the former governments can be seen in the local customs, especially in the western-most part of the Valdinievole, where the people’s way of speaking and habits are reminiscent of nearby Lucca.

It is evident that historic events have left a great artistic heritage throughout the whole territory of Pistoia, which together with the beauty of the landscape and nature are worth a closer look. Indeed, until now the proximity of large cities of art like Florence, Lucca and Pisa has kept Pistoia in the background as regards mass tourism; some of the nearby towns, which have been established and coveted destinations among Italian and foreign tourists for decades, are starting to show the signs of exploitation of their image and to lose the fabric that makes a holiday there intense and original.
Therefore, the Pistoian area appears to the tourist with an array of proposals which are in part still to be discovered, and in part already established and highly regarded: ranging from skiing at Abetone, the most famous ski resort in Tuscany; to walks in the charming age-old Appennine forests (with volcanic lakes and ridges overlooking wide panoramas as far as the Alps and the Tyrhennian Sea with the Tuscan islands); to medieval villages, the locations of great historic events (Gavinana, where the battle took place in 1530 that ended the Florentine Republic) and local history (Cutigliano, Piteglio, Popiglio, the villages of the Svizzera Pesciatina; the hill-top villages of the Valdinievole, etc). Frequently top quality works of art can be found in all of these villages, such as Romanesque churches, medieval podestà buildings, bas-relief by Luca della Robbia, silversmithery from the school of Gian Lorenzo Bernini and other marvels of the Roman Baroque period. And the Medici villas designed by the great Renaissance architects, towns with a great artistic heritage such as Pescia, which is worth a special trip to see its churches palazzi, museums, and its great amount of top quality artefacts.
And finally Pistoia, since the 12th century the heart of the cult of San Jacopo, and therefore visited by pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela or Rome along the ancient route of the Via Fraancigena. Pistoia which opens up to its tourists with one of the most beautiful medieval squares in Italy, Piazza del Duomo, facing onto which are the ancient seats of power, the cathedral, the bishop’s palace, the town hall, the court; city of merchants and crafts (bearing witness to which is Piazza della Sala and the surrounding alleyways), Romanesque churches (their multicoloured facades of white and green marble have their own particular look, different from Lucca and Pisa); absolute masterpieces, such as the pulpits of Guido da Como and Giovanni Pisano, the silver altar of San Jacopo; the Della Robbia frieze in the Ospedale del Ceppo; the city’s museums with collections ranging from 14th –century art to the contemporary sculptures of Marino Marini, and the projects of Giovanni Michelucci.

The three museums networks active in the province of Pistoia provide the perfect opportunity to get to know the three hearts of this territory: the Valdinievole and Pistoia museums networks and the Ecomuseo della Montagna Pistoiese.
But the right way to go about having more direct contact with local culture and rediscovering the slow pace and genuine flavours of a holiday of times past is through Sentieri Acustici festival, which take place every year in the second half of the month of August in the Pistoian mountains.