This was the city’s ancient centre under Lombard rule. The square later went on to assume and consolidate its commercial function. In the Piazza dell’Ortaggio, standing next to the Piazza della Sala, we can see a very unusual bronze sculpture, the “Giro del Sole” by Roberto Barni.
Piazza della Sala belongs to the oldest part of the town, the part that includes various sacred buildings which offer evidence to the centrality of religion in Pistoia’s history.
This was the city’s ancient centre under Lombard rule. The square later went on to assume and consolidate its commercial function, which it retains to this day. The powerful Opera di San Jacopo promoted and controlled all the workings of the market.
In 1453, the Opera adorned the square with the Pozzo del Leoncino (“The Well of the Little Lion”), which can still be found at the centre of the square today.
Next to the Piazza della Sala is the Piazzetta dell’Ortaggio, where, in the 20th century, the market of fresh fish used to be held and it is for this reason that this piazza is commonly called the Piazzetta del Pesce – the Little Piazza of Fish.
Here stands the bronze sculpture called the Giro del Sole (1994), made by the Pistoia artist Roberto Barni, with three young men, moving outwards from one central point, and who seem to be moving in different directions, blindfold, and carrying an oil lamp in their right hand.
