Saturday, Driving from Florence to Pistoia to Borgo Capanne to Modena to Malpensa
After breakfast on Saturday, we checked out of the hotel and had them bring our car. I had thought that the parking would be added to our bill, but when we got downstairs, and the car was delivered, we had to pay in cash for the parking. Fortunately I had enough euro on me to pay for it, so I didn't have to scramble to find an ATM.
Driving to Pistoia
We were on our way back to Milan (actually Malpensa, to the west of Milan) to stay for the night before flying home on Sunday morning. But we had several stops planned along the way — Pistoia, Borgo Capanne and Modena.
This is the approximate route we took from Florence to Malpensa
Arcangeli Giovanni & Figlio nursery
Arcangeli Giovanni & Figlio nursery
Arcangeli Giovanni & Figlio nursery
Arcangeli Giovanni & Figlio nursery
A train crossing on the road to Pistoia
Pistoia, the Orphanage and the Silver Altar
So we made our way out of the city and headed to Pistoia.
There were two things I wanted to see there — the silver altar with the earliest known existing sculptures by Brunelleschi, and the orphanage which was designed by Brunelleschi, very much like the one he designed in Florence.
There appears to be lots more to see in Pistoia, but we were limited on time.
It may be a place we devote more time to on a future trip.
Here are some views of Pistoia.
We found a place to park and then used the GPS in pedestrian mode to find the direction to walk to the Piazza del Duomo.
The Church of Saint Bartholomew built in the mid 8th century
The road leading up to the Piazza del Duomo
A closer view of the campanile
Palazzo del Comune — The City Hall or the Palazzo of the Old Lords
Looks like the Medici have been here
As far as I can tell, this is a bank.
There were tables and chairs stacked up all around the piazza, but I don't know what they were there for.
The baptistery of Pistoia by Cellino di Nese (1339)
The doorway of the baptistery.
Cathedral of Santi Zeno
There was an open air market in front of the church so it was difficult getting photos of it.
The Silver Altar of San Jacopo
The silver altar was once located in the chapel dedicated to Pistoia's patron saint, San Jacopo.
It is now in the Chapel of the Crucifix (also now known as Cappella di San Iácopo.)
We entered the church and wandered around looking for the altar.
Then we finally noticed it in a small chapel to the right as you enter the church.
There was a locked gate across the entrance to the chapel, so I took this photo through the bars. There is glass all around the altar, so it was difficult to get photos without glare.
At about the same time that I saw a sign next to the chapel indicating that there is a 4 euro fee to enter the chapel, a man came over and unlocked the gate.
There was a small tour group that entered the chapel and we entered with them.
The female tour guide was explaining things to the group in another language besides English or Italian, so we just walked around the altar taking photos.
I knew that on the lower left of the top section of the altar are two sculptures of prophets that are the earliest known existing works of Filippo Brunelleschi.
So I started by taking photos of the sculptures on the lowest row.
However, they just didn't look right from what I remembered seeing in pictures.
The lower section of the altar
The upper section of the altar
I walked around the back of the altar and when I got over to the left side, I saw them.
They were on the left side of the altar, at the bottom of the top section.
Here is a closer view of Brunelleschi's sculptures.
You can see that they are a much different style than the other sculptures you can see in the photos above.
We left when the tour group was beginning to leave the chapel.
We could see the tour guide standing with the man who unlocked the chapel, counting people as we left the chapel.
We just continued to walk out and then out of the church.
I guess the tour guide had to pay for two extra people.
Here are a couple of photos I took as we walked around Pistoia.
The campanile and battistero
The Orphanage of Pistoia
This is the orphanage in Pistoia, which was designed by Brunelleschi, very much like the one he designed in Florence.
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