Chiesa del Tau

Top choice in Pistoia


This tiny 14th-century chapel, frescoed Gothic-style from top to bottom by the School of Giotto, is a dramatic guardian to Marino Marini's monumental equestrian sculpture The Miracle (1952). The frescoes illustrate tales from the New and Old Testaments and the story of St Anthony Abbot, depicted as an old man with white beard, staff and pig by his side. On his feast day, 17 January, local farmers used to bring their animals to the chapel to get them blessed by their patron saint.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Pistoia attractions

1. Museo Marino Marini

0.02 MILES

This gallery inside Palazzo del Tau is devoted to Pistoia's most famous modern son, sculptor and painter Marino Marini (1901–80). Dozens of his drawings…

2. Chiesa di San Giovanni Fuorcivitas

0.09 MILES

Gargantuan black-and-white striped marble facade aside, the star turn of this striking Romanesque church fronting Via Cavour is Luca della Robbia's glazed…

3. Giro di Sole

0.12 MILES

This striking, life-size sculpture of three blindfolded men (1996) by contemporary Pistoia artist Roberto Barni (b 1939) sits in Piazzetta degli Orgaggi.

4. Piazzetta degli Ortaggi

0.12 MILES

Don't miss this beautiful small square, with its laid-back cafe life and striking, life-size sculpture of three blindfolded men, Giro di Sole (Around the…

5. Antico Palazzo dei Vescovi

0.16 MILES

The bishops' palace, wedged next to the cathedral, provides a fascinating tour of Pistoia's urban history, ranging from touchable scale models of…

6. Battistero di San Giovanni

0.17 MILES

Across the square from the cathedral is its 14th-century octagonal baptistry, elegantly banded in green-and-white marble to a design by Andrea Pisano. An…

7. Cattedrale di San Zeno

0.18 MILES

This cathedral with beautiful Pisan-Romanesque facade safeguards a lunette of the Madonna and Child between two angels by Andrea della Robbia. Its other…

8. Campanile della Cattedrale

0.18 MILES

Scale the sky-high, red-brick campanile (bell tower) of the Cattedrale di San Zeno for a wonderful bird's-eye view of Pistoia's iconic cathedral square…