Redevelopment of Piazza San Francesco, double inauguration in Pistoia

This morning the restoration work was inaugurated in Piazza San Francesco monument to the fallen of the First World War and the Parterre fountain. The initiative was attended by the mayor of Pistoia, the president of the Caript Foundation, the provincial councilor delegated for the management and valorisation of the heritage, the owner of the Agena Restauri company of Pistoia and civil and military authorities.

The intervention was carried out by the company Agena Restauri of Pistoia for a total cost of 51,000 euros of which 25,500 financed by the Caript Foundation with the “Restoration of the artistic heritage 2022” tender and 25,500 euros allocated by the Municipality.

The works are part of the wider redevelopment project of the entire Piazza San Francesco area which has already seen the restoration of the Pantheon of Illustrious Men and the historic columns around the square, but also the replacement of some trees and the pruning of all the others. The project for a new Piazza San Francesco also includes the removal of architectural barriers to access the Parterre from the Porta al Borgo car park and the rearrangement of the Gramsci room.

For the restoration of the monument to the fallen of the First World War and of the Parterre fountain an operation was performed to restore both to their original color. Over the years, a dark patina had created for the monument, which was completely cleaned, and then sealing and protection works against atmospheric agents were carried out. The same procedure was also carried out for the base of the monument. The marble fountain in the Parterre has returned to its natural white color and the bronze statue in the upper part has also been cleaned.

Redevelopment of greenery. The redevelopment works on the greenery of Piazza San Francesco have been completed, which saw the replacement of 10 class D lime trees, i.e. those with a high propensity to collapse, with other plants of the same type, while the other 45 trees have all been pruned. The hornbeam trees along the path from the square towards the Porta al Borgo car park have also been replaced with pirus chanteclair, very resistant, which do not require much maintenance and do not grow too high and are, therefore, compatible with the spaces available and the distances from neighboring buildings. They are also very decorative plants, thanks to their beautiful flowers in the spring period. The works, authorized by the Superintendency, were carried out by the Società Agricola Giorgio Tesi Vivai of Pistoia as part of an agreement between the Municipality of Pistoia and the Pistoia nursery company.

Overcoming the architectural barriers of the Parterre with access from the Porta al Borgo car park. The executive design, with an external assignment already entrusted, is underway and should be delivered by July. The design, for a total cost of 47,931,076, obtained funding of 20,000 euros from the Caript Foundation through the “Let’s design!” call. The remaining part is allocated by the Municipality.

Pantheon of Illustrious Men. The overall restoration project involved the restoration of the building envelope, its internal spaces and the decorated surfaces of the frescoed hemicycle. The intervention allowed the recovery of the rooms on the north side, giving them an accessory function to the central body, as well as the recovery of part of the urban walls that delimit the western perimeter, thus securing and redeveloping the monumental building, tested by time . The works, for a total of 445,000 euros, were financed thanks to the contribution of the Caript Foundation (205 thousand euros through the Restoration of the artistic heritage 2019 call), by the Municipality of Pistoia and by Unicoop Firenze, in collaboration with the members section of Pistoia.

Source: Municipality of Pistoia – Press Office