Pistoia
Sunday, 2 June 2013Half way between the big attractions of Florence and Pisa, the northern Italy town of Pistoia has some very worthwhile distractions of its own. I was there for the Pistoia Literary Festival and wandering the beautiful old town was a reminder, yet again, that Italy simply has too many tourist sites. Three favourites:
▲ The Ospedale del Ceppo building with its beautiful polychrome terracotta frieze depicting the Seven Works of Mercy. I bumped into them again a few days later in Naples.
▲ Art nouveau reminiscent of the French works of Gustav Eiffel at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele with its bronze statue of Mercury.
▲The Church of St Andrew with its very fine pulpit from 1301 by Giovanni Pisano in a style described as proto-Renaissance, as it preceded the renaissance. The sculptures include this one of the Massacre of the Innocents are quite amazingly detailed, quirkily detailed as well. The tall narrow building is pretty impressive as well.
