Pistoia

Pistoia (Pis-to'ya; anc. Pistoria), a walled town of Italy, stands 21 miles by rail NW. of Florence, on a spur of the Apennines. The cathedral (12th and 13th centuries) contains a magnificent altar of silver (1286-1407); the church of St Bartholomew, a fine white marble pulpit by Guido of Como (1250); St Andrea's, Giovanni Pisano's pulpit (1301); and St John's, a font by Giovanni Pisano. The principal manufactures are iron and steel wares, and firearms - the word 'pistol' in all probability takes its name through pistolese, 'a dagger,' from Pistoia (Pistola). Pop. 30,190. Here Catiline was defeated in 62 b.c.

Pitcaithly

Pitcaithly, or Pitkeathley, mineral springs in Perthshire, 4 1/2 miles S. of Perth.

Pitch Lake

Pitch Lake. See Trinidad.

Pitcur

Pitcur, Perthshire, 3 miles SB. of Coupar-Angus, has a large weem and a ruined castle.

Pitlochry

Pitlochry, a Perthshire village, on the Tum-mel's left bank, 13 miles NNW. of Dunkeld. It is a great health and summer resort, and has a tweed factory. Pop. 1530.

Pitsligo

Pitsligo, New, a town of Aberdeenshire, 11 miles SW. of Fraserburgh. Pop. 1676.

Pittenweem

Pittenweem, a seaport of Fife, a royal (since 1542) and parliamentary burgh (St Andrews group), 3 1/2 miles NE. of Elie by rail, with fisheries and a ruined 12th-century priory. Pop. 1802.

Pittsfield

Pittsfield, capital of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, 151 miles by rail W. of Boston. Beautifully situated on a plateau where six lakes round the city give rise to the Housatonic River, it has a marble court-house, a handsome athenaeum, and a fine park. Cotton and woollen goods, silk, boots and shoes, and tacks are manufactured. Pop. 22,500.

Pittston

Pittston, a mining-town of Pennsylvania, on the Susquehanna River, 9 miles by rail NE. of Wilkesbarre. Besides a railway bridge, there are two other bridges connecting it with West Pitts-ton. It has foundries, knitting-mills, and a silk-factory. Pop. 13,500.

Piuro

Piuro (P'yoo'ro), near the Val d'Aosta, once a rich city full of palaces, was crushed with all its wealth and thousands of people by the fall in 1618 of an overhanging mountain. It now is a chaos of wooded knolls and moss-grown rocks.

Pladda

Pladda, an islet with a lighthouse off the SE. extremity of Arran. Pop. 6.

Plainfield

Plainfield, a city of New Jersey, on Green Brook, 24 miles by rail WSW. of New York. Clothing, hats, and machinery are manufactured. Pop. 15,800.

Plaistow

Plaistow, an East London district, in West Ham parliamentary borough.

Plasencia

Plasencia, a decayed town of Spain, in Estre-madura, 130 miles W. by S. of Madrid, is surrounded with double walls (1197), and has a fine Gothic cathedral (1498). Pop. 8000. The monastery of San Yuste, to which Charles V. retired, lies 24 miles E.

Plassey

Plassey (Bengali Palasi), a battlefield, 96 miles N. of Calcutta, on the Bhagirathi River, which has eaten away the scene of the struggle. Here Clive defeated Suraj ud Dowlah, subahdar of Bengal, 23d June 1757, a victory which laid the foundation of British supremacy in India.