Pescia

Pescia was my town. I lived up in the hills above it, in the Svizzera Pesciatina, and Pescia was where I came down to: for the train, the shops, a coffee and a full tank of fuel before heading back up the valley.

It’s a working market town, not a postcard, and that’s what I liked about it. People used to ask me where the “real” Tuscany was. I’d point up the valley. But the town itself deserves a proper look too, so here’s my guide to Pescia and its villages.

Pescia quick facts

• Province: Pistoia (Pescia belonged to Lucca’s province until 1927)
• Population: 19,213 for the whole comune, including Collodi and the hill villages (ISTAT, 1 January 2026)
• Altitude: about 62 metres in the town, rising to over 1,100 metres in the hills
• Nearest station: Pescia, on the Florence to Lucca line, about 1.5 km south of Piazza Mazzini
• Lucca: about 30 km by road, roughly half an hour
• Pistoia: about 30 km by road, roughly half an hour
• Florence: about 60 km by road, or about an hour on the train

Visiting Pescia

A short history of Pescia

Pescia takes its name from its river, and the river’s name is thought to come from an old Lombard word for a stream. The town grew up on both banks: the long piazza and the town hall on one side, the Duomo on the other.

In the Middle Ages it sat right on the border between Lucca and Florence, never a comfortable place to be. Lucca’s forces destroyed it in 1281, and it was fought over for years before it ended up under Florence for good. Silk and paper made it prosperous, and the paper mills up the valley kept going for centuries.

In 1699 Grand Duke Cosimo III made Pescia a city, and in 1727 it got its own bishop. In 1944 retreating German troops blew up all its bridges, and the bishop, Angelo Simonetti, is credited with helping to save the town itself. After the war came the flowers, and Pescia’s flower market became one of the biggest in Italy.

What to see in Pescia

Piazza Mazzini. The long piazza at the heart of town, with the Palazzo del Vicario (the town hall) at one end and the little 15th-century Oratorio della Madonna di Piè di Piazza at the other. Good for coffee and supplies.

The Duomo. Across the river, the cathedral was rebuilt in its present form from 1684 after the dome collapsed. The bell tower started life as a tower in the town walls. Inside, look out for the della Robbia altarpiece, back on show since 2020.

San Francesco. This church holds one of the treasures of Tuscany: Bonaventura Berlinghieri’s panel of St Francis and scenes from his life, signed and dated 1235, just nine years after the saint died. It’s one of the earliest pictures of him to survive.

Museo Libero Andreotti (the Gipsoteca). In the old Palagio on Piazza del Palagio: plaster models by the sculptor Libero Andreotti, who was born in Pescia. Open Thursday to Sunday, 10am to 1pm and 3pm to 6pm (checked October 2026).

Museo Civico, Palazzo Galeotti. The town museum on Piazza Santo Stefano, with paintings and sculpture from the early Renaissance on, including works lent by the Uffizi. Open Friday to Sunday. In autumn 2026 the first-floor rooms were closed for works, with an exhibition on the ground floor instead. One ticket covers both museums.

The Mercato dei Fiori. Pescia’s flower market, now the Mercato dei Fiori della Toscana (MEFIT), out near the station. It’s a trade market that starts before dawn, not a tourist sight, and in 2026 it was in the middle of a big rebuild. Architecture fans should look out for the original 1951 market hall in town, by a team led by Leonardo Savioli and Leonardo Ricci.

Rainy day? My rainy day ideas near Lucca, Pescia and Pistoia has more, and Collodi, with the Pinocchio Park and the gardens of Villa Garzoni, is only about 5 km away.

The villages of Pescia

The comune of Pescia stretches well beyond the town. Up the valley behind it are the ten castella of the Svizzera Pesciatina, the “Switzerland of Pescia”. That was home. My Dieci Castella driving route takes you through all ten, in order:

• PietrabuonaThe first of the ten castles, with its ruined Rocca and paper museum
• MedicinaA tiny castle village with flowery lanes and great walks
• FibbiallaOne of the smallest castles, with a church over a thousand years old
• AramoPerched on a crag above the Val di Torbola
• San QuiricoLanes that tunnel under the houses, and a rooftop circolo
• CastelvecchioMy dawn stroll through the village in the mist
• StiappaBeccutini, music and views of Pontito every 15 August
• PontitoThe fan-shaped castle village at about 750 metres
• SoranaIts old rocca, the Paradiso quarter and the paper mills
• VellanoThe old capital of the ten castles, with its pieve and quarry

And while you’re in Sorana, don’t miss its famous beans.

There was once an eleventh, Lignana, the lost castle. One Christmas Eve my family and I were part of Castelvecchio’s living nativity, and in 2013 I bought an apartment in one of these villages from a 93-year-old called Otello. Winters up there meant firewood and the odd power cut, as I wrote in Winter in the Tuscan hills.

All the villages of Pescia (29)

Al Giusti, Alberghi, Aramo, Calamari, Caporaletto, Case Fantozzi, Castellare, Castelvecchio, Chiodo, Collodi, Fibbialla, Lignana, Macchie di San Piero, Macchino, Medicina, Molinaccio, Monte a Pescia, Pesciamorta, Pietrabuona, Ponte all’Abate, Ponte di Castelvecchio, Ponte di Sorana, Pontito, San Lorenzo, San Quirico, Sorana, Stiappa, Vellano, Veneri

Down on the plain the comune also takes in Collodi and Veneri. For the neighbouring towns, see Villages of Pistoia province.

Food and festas

The local star is the Sorana bean, a tiny IGP bean grown by the river below Sorana. Rossini once asked his friend Giovanni Pacini, the composer who made his home in Pescia, for Sorana beans as his fee for revising some of his scores. Sorana holds its bean festa at the end of August.

August is festa month in the hills. Stiappa has its Sagra del Beccutino at Ferragosto, and Castelvecchio has the Festa of the Ham Sandwich, which is exactly what it sounds like. In town, the four rioni compete at archery in the Palio on the first Sunday of September, and at Christmas there’s a living nativity along the river, La Città nel Presepe.

For dates, see my sagre and festivals month by month, and for what to order, what to eat in the Lucca and Pistoia hills.

Pescia: questions people ask me

How do I get to Pescia?

By train: Pescia is on the Florence to Lucca line, with trains roughly every half hour for much of the day. Lucca is 20 to 30 minutes away and Florence about an hour. The station is about 1.5 km south of Piazza Mazzini, so allow 20 minutes to walk in. By road, Lucca and Pistoia are each about 30 km, roughly half an hour.

Where can I park in Pescia?

The Pro Loco points visitors to two free car parks: LungoFiume Amm. Gino Birindelli, by the river, and S. Francesco, handy for Piazza Mazzini. Many bays in the centre are blue-line paid parking, so check the signs.

What are the ten castles of Pescia?

The Dieci Castella of the Svizzera Pesciatina, up the valley behind the town: Pietrabuona, Medicina, Fibbialla, Aramo, San Quirico, Castelvecchio, Stiappa, Pontito, Sorana and Vellano. They’re all in the comune of Pescia.

Do I need a car to see the villages above Pescia?

Buses do run up the valley, but they’re few. I stood at a lot of bus stops, so I’d hire a car if you want the hills.

When is the Pescia Palio?

On the first Sunday of September, when the town’s four rioni compete at archery. It’s the best day for noise and colour.

Parking and Palio details from the Pro Loco Pescia and the Comune di Pescia, checked October 2026.

Where to stay

I’d base myself in or near Pescia, or in Lucca if you want a bigger town. My where to stay near Lucca and the Svizzera Pesciatina guide has the details.

Useful numbers

When I lived there I kept a scruffy list of numbers on the fridge, and the one night I needed it I was very glad of it. In any emergency, call 112. Pescia has its own hospital, the Ospedale SS. Cosma e Damiano on Via Cesare Battisti, with a 24-hour Pronto Soccorso (A&E).

Every other number you might need is in my useful numbers in Tuscany post.

Map

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Pescia is one of the towns of Pistoia province. See Pescia on the Pistoia page, or browse all of Villages of Tuscany.

Susan

Photo credits: Piazza Mazzini, looking towards the Madonna di Piazza (photo: Sailko, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons); Piazza Mazzini dressed with banners (photo: Mongolo1984, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons). All other photos are my own.