This building owes its name and fame to the local
legend that has always believed it to be the seat of the old city
magistracy but this story has never been confirmed by any documents.
In spite of well justified doubts about its function, the palazzo
has the authoritative and prestigious air that in medieval times
distinguished the residence of the most important city leaders.
Even the location it self is one of privilege since it was erected
along the via regis road (today the via di Stracceria -s.i.) which
ran from the gate of Porta San Pietro to the political center of
the city located then in the piazza della Sala (
vs4).
The Captain had military power and was elected directly by the people,
whose interests he was expected to defend. The position was established
in Pistoia during the Communal era and remained in use until the
second half of the fourteenth century when it was substituted by
a magistrate sent from Florence. The first references to the Captain's
residence date back to the second half of the 1200s, when the Captain
and the Mayor, sometimes together and sometimes separately as the
documents prove, began to buy properties lining the piazza del Duomo
(
vs3). A paper dating from
the end of the century shows the Captain's palazzo near the Cappella
Sancti Johannis or Baptistery (
vs34),
however, it doesn't give any other indication so that it is still
difficult today to identify with any certainty where the building
was situated. The palazzo we ad mire today is the result of several
architectural projects which can be made out in three main parts:
the corner tower, the tower-house just to the south and a lower
building. In this last part, there are still traces of the double
windows that gave the indoor spaces the feeling of a colonnade.
With the passage of time and the changing of taste, the palazzo
has undergone many renovations that have partly altered its appearance.
They have also rendered it highly unusual because of the obvious
overlaying of styles. The pointed stone arches were covered by double
windows in white marble and later by rectangular windows that were
also opened in other points of the façade that looks onto via di
Stracceria. Even the corner tower underwent changes during the radical
nineteenth century restoration when the original single apertures
were replaced with double aperture windows. Today the palazzo del
Capitano is occupied by private houses and commercial businesses.
(n.) refers to the number of the file-card (s.i.) means see information
inside
The Via di Stracceria
Cloth merchants prospered along the old via dei Merciadri, as
this street was once called, and their wide shop doors opened onto
vast warehouses. Today this important business is recalled in the
street's name while commercial activity is still carried on in the
many shops that make this one of the busiest and liveliest streets
of the Sala area (
vs11).
Although time has altered its appearance, via di Stracceria is still
one of the most characteristic places of the Medieval city
