Pescia, the town

After Buggiano, moving in a westerly direction you get to the flourishing town of Pescia which boasts Roman origins and a location at the centre of the olive grove clad open valley of the stream of the same name. A stroll through its streets takes us to: its Duomo with a massive fourteenth century belltower alongside and an interior packed with various works of art; the thirteenth century Chiesa di San Francesco which holds precious frescoes by Bicci di Lorenzo and the famous St Francis panel painted by Bonaventura Berlinghieri only nine years after the saint’s death; the long and characteristic Piazza Mazzini, the centre of the town, with its Palazzo del Vicario decorated with coats of arms and the beautiful Oratorio della Madonna di Piè di Piazza as well as the Palagio or Palazzo del Podestà with its attached plastercast gallery.

Pescia also has interesting handicrafts but it is most famous for its wine, olive, asparagus and, above all, flower production. At the end of Via Amendola is the modern building of the Old Flower Market which was awarded a prize in the 1950s for its futuristic style for the time (a single span in reinforced concrete, 12 metres high). It is no longer a centre of trading as this function is now performed by the new market nearby.