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Church of St Leon

The former church is nicknamed "Pistoia's Sistine Chapel", perhaps a little dramatically, but not entirely wrongly. Today it is used for temporary exhibitions, which have a fitting place in the cycle of frescoes 18th-century paintings covering the walls, ceiling and the apsidal basin.

The building's origins date back to the 14th century, although it is hardly noticeable today. Four centuries later, architectural transformations were, in fact, crucial to its current appearance. The names of the artists involved in the wall paintings are only prominent on a local scale, yet the overall effect is noteworthy.

The restoration and conservation work carried out in view of the occasion when Pistoia was the Italian Capital of Culture, mainly concerned the stuccoes, altars, fixtures and chancel, in fact returning the church to the important role it had at the time of the frescoes. At the time, the city was still under Florence, no longer under the Medici but governed like the rest of Tuscany by the Grand Duchy of Habsburg-Lorraine.

 

Church of St Leon

Piazza S. Leone, 2, 51100 Pistoia PT, Italia

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