Pistoia as Santiago de Compostela. The exhibition illustrating the links between the two cities

Pistoia like a little Santiago de Compostela: the Tuscan city, in fact, between the 12th and 14th centuries, at the height of its splendor, was also a European-level pilgrimage center, and the cult of St. Jacopo (St. James the Greater, the Spanish “Santiago”) was strong and widespread, introduced here in 1145 by Bishop Atto following the arrival of the saint’s relic, still the city’s patron saint. In the cathedral, the relics are kept inside the Chapel of St. James, where theSilver Altar (a masterpiece of goldsmithing that took 169 years to finish: from 1287 to 1456) and the reliquary that houses the only relic of the saint found in Italy.

The year 2021-2022 has been declared “Iacobean Year,” and to celebrate this event that consolidates the bond between Pistoia and Santiago de Compostela ahead of the act that will sanction the twinning of the two cities, from Oct. 1 October 2021 to January 31, 2022, the church of San Leone will host the exhibition Pistoia Little Compostela - The Silver Altar of San Jacopo, an exhibition that reconstructs the link between the two cities while also allowing visitors to admire a photographic reproduction of the Silver Altar. The exhibition will display images of the great masterpiece on which five generations of goldsmiths worked over two centuries, created with light boxes that enhance the most minute details of the altar, which can therefore be seen at close range and in very high definition. The exhibition, which premiered this summer in Santiago de Compostela and was able to welcome more than 15,000 visitors in less than two months, comes as a complement to the book on the Silver Altar (the fourth volume in Giorgio Tesi Editrice’s series Avvicinatevi alla Bellezza ), with texts by Lucia Gai and photos by Nicolò Begliomini, published in 2018.

In addition, from November 20 to December 12, 2021, a photography exhibition dedicated to the Way of St. James will also be held in Pistoia, in the Frescoed Rooms of the Municipal Palace. The exhibition at the Church of San Leone, curated by Giorgio Tesi Editrice and The Wall Association, with support from the City of Pistoia, CARIPT Foundation, Giorgio Tesi Group and CONAD, opens Monday through Friday from 2 to 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with free admission.

Photo: Nicolò Begliomini

Pistoia as Santiago de Compostela. The exhibition illustrating the links between the two cities

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