Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy v1.0
Pistoia is a city in Tuscany located halfway between Florence and Lucca, with about 30 kilometres between each. Known in Roman times as Pistoria, the area was the scene of the death in battle in 63BCE of the Roman demagogue and conspirator Catiline, whose famous denunciation by Cicero became a model for the training of rhetoric in the humanist syllabus of the Renaissance. Pistoia in its present form emerged in the 12th century in the age of the Italian commune, with its first civic statute passed in 1177. Unfortunately, Pistoia was riven by extreme Guelf-Ghibelline, and the White-on-Black Guelf factional violence in the 13th and 14th centuries. Throughout this period, Pistoia found itself caught between the political machinations of the republics of Lucca and Florence, losing its independence permanently to Florentine dominion in 1401. For the next 4 centuries, Pistoia lived out its existence as one of the core cities and trading centres of the Florentine territorial domain, until Tuscany was transferred to Austrian rule in 1737, and then unified Italian rule after 1859. Today, it is a relatively large provincilal town of about 90,000. Though less visited than other parts of Tuscany, its medieval city and walls are well-preserved. To this day, it’s 12th century Romanesque duomo and its campanile still dominate the skyline.
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