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Pescia is a town in the Tuscany, Pistoia province, with 17 500 inhabitants, 63 meters above sea level.

The city is situated on the banks of the homonymous river Pescia; it is located in a central zone between the cities Lucca and Florence, also near to Pisa.

The Pescia has two different centers: the first one for commercial activities of the left bank of the river and the second one for religious activities on the right bank. In the first one there is the castle and the square and in the second one there is the cathedral.

Commune of Pescia

Commune of Pescia is famous for its flower market and the Adventures of Pinocchio. According to archaeological excavations, Lombards here built the first settlement on the river banks; the name of the city comes from a Lombard word, which means “river”.

Lucca occupied and destroyed Pescia during the 13th century, but town was quickly rebuilt. During the entire Middle Ages Florence and Lucca contended for the city, because the free commune of Pescia was located on the border between the two republics. After Pisa tried uselessly to conquest the city, Florence occupied it. Pescia joined the fights between Guelphs and Ghibellines.

The economy of the city was founded on the mulberry cultivation and on the silkworm breeding, about which a legend said that it was imported in Europe for the first time by a Pesciatin monk.

At the end of 17th century the Grand-duke of Tuscany declared Pescia as "City of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany".

The passage of Napoleon highly damaged the economy of the city, because he substituted silk with sugar beet.

Bombardments during Second World War highly damaged Pescia, but the city was quickly rebuilt. The commune of Pescia has little villages on the Pesciatin mounts. All these villages are similar: they have walls, a little church and a tower, which has always become the church bell tower. The names of these villages are: Pietrabuona, Vellano, Fibbialla, Aramo, Medicina, San Quirico, Castelvecchio, Stiappa, Pontito and Sorana. Other villages of the comune are Collodi, Veneri, Chiodo and Alberghi. Pescia is the international capital of cut flowers, and nurseries growing flowers and plants go on for miles and miles. A flower fair is held in Pescia every two years. Pescia flower market is one of Italy’s biggest, and there are some interesting sites to visit.

Paper production is a very old activity in Pesciatin zone; many paper factories produce paper of good quality and sell it to all Italy. In Pietrabuona there is the Museum of Paper. Pescia is an important school centre, in the city there are four cultural high schools: classical, scientific, linguistic and psycho-pedagogic high school and three professional high schools: economical, agrarian and graphic-tourist high school.

Places to Visit in Pescia

• The Duomo - remodeled in Baroque style by Antonio Ferri in 1693, has a massive campanile that was originally built as a tower within the city walls. It was given its onion-dome "cap" in 1771.
• San Francesco church - in the church are frescoes on The Life of St. Francis by Bonaventura Berlinghieri. The artist knew St. Francis and it is claimed that the frescoes are an accurate portrait of the saint.
• Museo Civico - there is a small collection of religious paintings and illuminated manuscripts.
• Museo Archeologico della Valdinievole - displays material excavated from nearby Valdinievole, the pretty "Vale of Mist".
• Old Flower Market - important building for its modern architecture.

For more information visit

• Comune Pescia