Famedio, Pistoia
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Cosimo_rossi_melocchi%2C_alzato_del_pantheon_dei_pistoiesi_illustri%2C_in_delle_fabbriche_incominciate_alla_memoria...%2C_1816%2C_acquatinta.jpg/220px-Cosimo_rossi_melocchi%2C_alzato_del_pantheon_dei_pistoiesi_illustri%2C_in_delle_fabbriche_incominciate_alla_memoria...%2C_1816%2C_acquatinta.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Pistoia%2C_pantheon_degli_uomini_illustri%2C_05.jpg/220px-Pistoia%2C_pantheon_degli_uomini_illustri%2C_05.jpg)
The Famedio or Pantheon of Illustrious Men (Pantheon degli Uomini Illustri) is a Neoclassic-style shrine or temple located at the end of a tree lined path, just off Piazza San Francesco #9, in Pistoia, region of Tuscany, Italy. The shrine was envisioned in 1812 as a secular memorial to famous men of Pistoia.
Description
[edit]The initial design was far grander, but the tumultuous events of the Napoleonic wars interrupted construction, such that it was not complete until the early 1820s in a much reduced scale.[1] The design was by Cosimo Rossi Melocchi.[2] The architecture has simple tapering Doric columns, that recall Egyptian temple columns, under rusticated temple facade with two angelic figures holding a central wreath around a checkered pattern, symbol of Pistoia. Melocchi would repeat his plans for a Pantheon in Villa Puccini a Scornio.[3] For some years, the site was used as a cafe.
References
[edit]- ^ Lecture by Laura Dominici Archived 2019-03-26 at the Wayback Machine on Pistoia celebra gli uomini illustri on 8 April 2008.
- ^ Le dimore di Pistoia e della Valdinievole, article by Gabriele Morolli, edited by Emilia Daniele, Associazione dimore storiche italiane. Sezione Toscana, Editrice Alinea, Florence (2004): page 40-41.
- ^ Pistoia e il suo territorio: Pescia e i suoi dintorni: guida del forestiero, by Giuseppe Tigri, Tipografia Cino, Pistoia (1853): page 293.