Archaeological excavations have suggested that the
Lombards built the first
settlement here on the river banks. The name of the city comes in fact from the
Lombardic word '
(cognate to ' in
German), meaning "
river".
Lucca occupied and destroyed Pescia during the 13th century, but the town was quickly rebuilt. During the entire
Middle Ages Florence and Lucca contended for the city, as the latter was located on the border between the two republics. In 1339, after almost ten years of war, Florence occupied it. The economy of the town was founded on
mulberry cultivation and
silkworm breeding. Heavily struck by the
Black Death, Pescia overcame the demographic and economic depression which had ensued only at the end of the 15th century. At the end of the 17th century, the grand-duke of Tuscany declared Pescia "City of the
Grand Duchy of Tuscany". In the 19th century, the silk production was so important that Pescia was called "the little Manchester of Tuscany". The economy of the town dropped after a commercial conflict between France and Italy (1888). The passage of
Napoleon highly damaged the economy of the city, because he substituted
silk with
sugar beet. Since 1925 Pesciatins found an alternative economic source in cultivating and trading flowers and olive plants (since the end of the 19th century). Bombardments during
World War II caused much damage to Pescia. ==Main sights==