“ In 1351 it was obliged to surrender to Florence, and thenceforth shared its fate.
The city is still surrounded by walls, dating from shortly after the siege of 1302–06; while two inner lines of streets represent two earlier and inner lines of wall. In the early development of architecture and sculpture Pistoia played a very important part, these arts, as they existed in Tuscany before the time of Niccola Pisano, can perhaps be better studied in Pistoia than anywhere else; nor is the city less rich in the later works produced by the school of sculptors founded by Niccola. ”

“ San Francesco al Prato is a fine church of the end of the 13th century with interesting frescoes of the school of Giotto. San Domenico, a noble church, begun in 1294, contains the beautiful tomb of Filippo Lazari by Bernardo and Antonio Rossellino (1462–1468) . In addition to its fine churches, Pistoia contains many noble palaces and public buildings. The Palazzo del Commune and the Palazzo Pretorio, once the residence of the podestà, are both fine specimens of 14th-century domestic architecture, in good preservation. ”

“ The cathedral is partly of the 12th century, with a porch and facade with small arcades—in black and white marble, as is the case with several other churches of Pistoiabut was remodelled in the 13th century, and modernized inside in the worst taste. Besides the silver altar it contains many fine works of sculpture ”