Pistoia

Pistoia lies northwest of Florence on the Ombrone, beneath the Apennines. A bishop's seat since late antiquity, it became a free commune in 1177 and erected walls and public buildings during its medieval prosperity. Its churches and squares preserve the imprint of a city deeply involved in the politics of Tuscany.

Florence conquered Pistoia in 1254, but submission did not end its internal struggles. Rival noble families aligned with the Black and White Guelph factions, whose violence became known through Dante's account in the Inferno. Florence finally deprived Pistoia of its civic autonomy in 1401. The city's later history was tied to the fortunes of Florence and the Tuscan state, while its cathedral and civic buildings remained reminders of its earlier communal independence.