Description
The Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo is a medieval stone palace between Via Roma and Via di Stracceria, next to Piazza del Duomo, in the center of Pistoia: it was the seat of the magistrate elected by the people, opened in 1282.
On the façade you can still make out the outlines of the large pointed-arch mullioned windows. Inside the stone arches, a 19th-century restoration set white marble double windows, with slender columns and leafy capitals. At the corner rises the tower, where the old single windows became double ones.
The palace brings together three buildings: the corner tower, a tower house to the south and a lower block, already joined in 1292. Hence the layering of styles that makes it so unusual. It stood on the old via regis, the road that led from Porta San Pietro to the city's political center.
The Capitano held military powers and defended the interests of the people. The office lasted until 1367, when it passed to a magistrate sent from Florence; in the 16th century the palace was sold and divided into apartments, and it still houses homes and shops today.
On the façade you can still make out the outlines of the large pointed-arch mullioned windows. Inside the stone arches, a 19th-century restoration set white marble double windows, with slender columns and leafy capitals. At the corner rises the tower, where the old single windows became double ones.
The palace brings together three buildings: the corner tower, a tower house to the south and a lower block, already joined in 1292. Hence the layering of styles that makes it so unusual. It stood on the old via regis, the road that led from Porta San Pietro to the city's political center.
The Capitano held military powers and defended the interests of the people. The office lasted until 1367, when it passed to a magistrate sent from Florence; in the 16th century the palace was sold and divided into apartments, and it still houses homes and shops today.