|  in
the photo: Piazza Duomo Pistoia
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.
Pistoia itself merits a visit because of its numerous and
important museums, namely the Marino Marini Foundation,
the characteristic Piazza della Sala, the Hospital del Ceppo
and many other important monuments. Do not forget that 4
Km. from this town is the very beautiful Zoological Garden,
one of the most complete in all Italy.
This town 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.
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.
The economy of Pistoia is based
both on an active commercial sector, especially the dynamic
fruit and vegetable market, and on a varied industrial sector
including engineering, textile, furniture, food, footwear,
mechanical and plastics factories.
Events: Giostra dell'Orso (end
of July).
Famous People:
Benedetto Colucci (humanist, 1438-1515), Enrico Betti (mathematician,
1823-1892), Policarpo Petrocchi (philologist, 1852-1902),
Ventura Vitoni (architect, 1442-1522).
Cultural Institutions:
State Archives, libraries, Capitulary Museum, Civic Museum
(paintings of the Tuscan School of 13th-16th centuries).
Diocesan Museum, Turati Foundation.
In the Province:
Montecatini Terme (spa),
Monsummano (spa), Abetone (winter ski resort), Pescia (floriculture),
Cutigliano (winter sports), San Marcello Pistoiese (Museo
Ferrucciano), Torre
del Lago Puccini (Museum of Puccini); Collodi (Pinocchio
monumental park).
 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).
Piazza Duomo
Piazza Duomo
 In
Pistoia the moon in the well really exists: it is a modern
art work by the Florentine artist Gianni Ruffi. 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.
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.
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