PESCIA, Diocese of. - Diocese and city in the province of Pistoia in Tuscany. It has an area of about 143 sq km, with a population of 87,441 inhabitants, of whom 87,418 are Catholics, distributed in 43 parishes, served by 82 diocesan priests and 31 religious; it has 7 male religious communities and 23 female ones (Ann. Pont., 1952, p. 316).
Christianity was introduced there from Lucca, to which diocese the Valdinievole and the Valleriana remained subject until 1519. In a document of 901 Gherardo, bishop of Lucca, mentions P. as a «plebs baptismalis», a title repeated in subsequent documents; it is taken as certain that its consecration took place on 7 July 1662. From the very beginning it had importance and privileges, until with the bull of 15 April 1519 Leo X, seconding the solicitations of his datary Msgr. Baldassarre Turini, a native of Pescia, raised the parish church to the rank of distinguished collegiate church and provostship, with an autonomous circumscription and jurisdiction, immediately subject to the Holy See, detaching it from Lucca. In 1726 Pope Benedict XIII with a bull of 14 September raised the provostship to a bishopric, keeping the new diocese under the immediate subjection of the Holy See. The last provost, Paolo Antonio Pesenti, was appointed first bishop. But because of the difficulties interposed, the papal bull had full execution only on 26 January 1729. From 3 October 1855 the diocese has been a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Pisa.
In the city, worthy of note are the little temple known as that of «pie di piazza» by Andrea Cavalcanti, with a valuable fresco of the venerated Madonna delle Grazie; the magnificent St. Francis with the panel of the Saint by Bonaventura Berlinghieri, and the Cardini chapel also by Andrea Cavalcanti, besides numerous paintings, panels and frescoes of value; the little church of St. Anthony Abbot, also rich in valuable frescoes. Some good paintings are also possessed by the Collegiate Church of Sts. Stephen and Nicholas, which besides the fine stone bell tower preserves on the exterior very extensive traces of the ancient architecture.
In the diocese, to be noted are the grandiose parish church of Castelvecchio di Valleriana, the church of the Hospitallers of Altopascio with its monumental bell tower, the parish church of St. Peter in Campo and others. Famous in the city is the sanctuary of St. Mary Magdalene, where the most venerated Crucifix donated by Countess Matilda of Canossa is preserved, and at Monsummano Terme, the sanctuary of Maria Santissima della Fonte nuova, endowed with frescoes, carvings and sculptures of exquisite workmanship. Castles rich in art and religious and civil history are also Montecarlo, Monsummano Alto, Montecatini Val di Nievole, Massa Cozzile, Buggiano, anciently a Benedictine abbey, Uzzano and other lesser ones.
Of the ancient parish church of P., ruined in the 17th century, few remains and the bell tower are left. The present Cathedral, severe in its Baroque style, contains good panels and paintings; in the presbytery one can admire a most valuable stone ambo with the symbols of the 4 Evangelists; in the sacristy are arranged 15th-century benches; in the chapter rooms there is a library rich in numerous rare works and incunabula.