In Pistoia the church of San Jacopo in Castellare reopens, among the oldest in the city

It was reopened to the public after a long restoration Church of San Jacopo in Castellare, in the historic center of Pistoia. The complex, which is one of the oldest in the city, has been the subject of an intervention almost 3 million euros2 of which financed by the Caript Foundation and the rest by the Municipality, and will soon become a museum.

The frescoes found

Inside the church there are frescoes of considerable importance. The paintings, mostly of a devotional nature, were created at various times between the mid-13th century and the second half of the 14th century. A part was rediscovered already between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, when interventions by the painter-restorer Galileo Chini. With the recent restoration campaign, important new frescoes were recovered, such as the elegant decoration in the arch of the left side or the Christ in Majesty among angels in the apse cap.

San Jacopo in Castellare it is one of the oldest churches in Pistoia. The building perhaps already existed in the early Middle Ages and was erected close to the first city walls in the area called ‘castellare’, due to the presence of military fortifications since the 10th century. Thanks to its elevated and protected position, also from the ancient course of the Brana torrent, since ancient times this place was a strategic area,
in close connection with the urban section of the Via Francigena and with northern access to the city through the ancient St. Andrew’s Gate. After the suppression in 1785 wanted by
bishop Scipione de’ Ricci, the church was used as an oratory for the nearby Leopoldine Schools and finally as a private laboratory.

The restoration and upcoming openings

The restoration of the architectural complex, developed by the Gurrieri Associati design studio of Florence, which has given the city back a cultural center in the heart of the city, involved the building and plant recovery, the transformation of the former church into a conference room, the restoration of the frescoes carried out under the supervision of the Superintendency, as well as the redevelopment of the former rectory and the arrangement of garden, which is a real green terrace.

The church will be open to the public from Thursday 25 April to Sunday 2 June Saturday, Sunday, holidays (April 25th and May 1st) and Friday April 26th from 10am to 6pm. For the days of April 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th and May 1st there will be free guided tours at 11am, 3pm and 17 for groups of up to 25 people. Then from 8 June to 1 September the church will be open for free on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 11am to 7pm.