The city of Pistoia is Italy’s 2017 culture capital

FLORENCE, ITALY – Pistoia has been chosen as Italian culture capital in 2017, the culture ministry’s jury announced Monday January 25, 2016.

The selection comes with one million euros from the culture ministry to finance its winning project with no strings attached – meaning that the city can spend the money without incurring sanctions under an economic stability pact with the national government.

Pistoia is located north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typical Italian medieval city, and it attracts many tourists, especially in the summer.

The other candidates were Aquileia, Como, Ercolano, Parma, Pisa, Spoleto, Taranto and Terni. Pistoia presents a well-preserved and charming medieval city inside the old walls.

The large Piazza del Duomo, dominated by the cathedral, is lined with other medieval buildings, such as the Palazzo del Comune and the Palazzo del Podestà: it is the setting (in July) of the Giostra dell’Orso (“Bear Joust”), when the best horsemen of the city’s traditional quarters tilt with lances at a target held up by a dummy shaped like a bear.

Other place of interest are the original Cathedral of San Zeno (5th century), the Palazzo dei Vescovi (“Bishops’ Palace”) and the Tower of Catilina: from the High Middle Ages it stands 30 metres (98 ft) high.

Pistoia was a centre of Gallic, Ligurian and Etruscan settlements before becoming a Roman colony in the 6th century BC, along the important road Via Cassia: in 62 BC the demagogue Catiline and his fellow conspirators were slain nearby. From the 5th century the city was a bishopric, and during the Lombardic kingdom it was a royal city and had several privileges. Pistoia’s most splendid age began in 1177 when it proclaimed itself a free commune: in the following years it became an important political centre, erecting walls and several public and religious buildings.

The Italy’s 2016 culture capital is actually Mantua, the erstwhile princely seat of the House of Gonzaga from the 14th to the 18th centuries, and its historic center was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.