Tom`s travels: Prato and Pistoia (20/11/2015)

It took a while before everyone was ready to leave, so we took a late morning train headed to the nearby town of Prato. After getting off the train I immediately started noticing the high number of chinese immigrants in the city (the highest in Italy) while walking towards the city center. We walked through the medieval streets and reached one of the main squares: Piazza del Duomo. As the name suggest, this is where the Cathedral with its beautiful serpentine decorated exterior. Started in the 10th century it was majorly modified in the 15th century, particularly on the facade, in the late Gothic-Romanesque style, though the bell tower still dates from the 12th century. One really rare and interesting thing was the external pulpit built by Michelozzo and Donatello which was used, and still is, to show to the public the Girdle of Mary on special occasions such as Christmas, Easter etc. We then entered inside, which was also decorated with serpentine, and the far end chapels contained some nice 14th and 15th century frescoes. We didn't have time to see the museum annexed to the Duomo, so after heading out and seeing the really nice marble fountain at the center of the square. After walking some more we reached the small Piazza del Comune, which still is the center of the city's administration. One side was the newer 17-18th century Town hall which also hosts the civic museum which we didn't see, while on the southern side was the fortified Palazzo Pretorio dating from the 13th century with beautiful arched windows decorating its sides. From there we went a little further and reached the really nice square of San Francesco, with the church of St. Francis on its eastern end, and a nice column in the center with a small but pretty fountain right next to it. Right behind the church, we reached the large Piazza Santa Maria delle Carceri, which takes its name from the large Basilica on the northern end which was unfortunately closed. Looming over the square is the larges squared Castello dell'Imperatore, so called because of the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II. Built in the 13th century it has some massive white stoned walls, with 3 fortified towers per side. We were able to climb the walls for free, where we had a beautiful, despite the cloudy day, view of the city.It was time to go back to the train station and head to our next destination; Pistoia. After a short train ride, we reached the town of Pistoia and headed directly towards the city center. After a 10 minute walk we decided to rest and have a snack in a bar. We found one right in front of the church of San Giovanni Fuorcivitas with a beautiful decorated side in white marble and green serpentine typical of the Romanesque of the area. I had a local sweet and then we headed on towards the main square. We reached the large Piazza del Duomo, with beautiful buildings all around it, thus conisdered one of the best looking in Italy (though very nice I would not consider it amongst the most beautiful). Right on its southern part stood the beautiful Baptistery, nearly larger and surely more imposing than the Cathedral itself. Both and with the immense bell tower were built in the 12th century in the typical Romanesque style in white marble and green serpentine. Though unadorned and without frescoes, apart from a beautiful central baptismal font, the Baptistery still had a nice looking inside, though surely much better from the outside. We then went inside the Cathedral; though badly lit we could still see most of the Romanesque structure and columns. It had some later additions, such as the baroque presbytery and altars,and some older parts with medieval frescoes still remaining. the main things inside were a silver altarpiece dedicated to St James and a 13th century crucifix. After exiting the Duomo we headed down a nice medieval street which took us in front of the Ospedale del Ceppo, One of the oldest and most prestigious hospitals in Europe and quite prolific during the Renaissance when it had its facade decorated in a beautiful ceramic glaze frieze with figures depicting the acts of mercy. Walking further on we reached the Church of Sant'Andrea which didn't look like too much from the inside, but once inside, though very badly lit, I marveled at the beautiful one of the most famous pulpits in the world. The masterpiece by Giovanni Pisano is a beautiful example of Gothic pulpit with incredible decorations, though it could be more appreciated if it were well lit. From there it was time to go so we walked back through the city center and reached the train station where we took the next train headed to Florence, hoping to come back to both these great cities which I wasn't able to visit thoroughly.