Pienza
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Pienza () is a town and ''
comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...
'' in the
province of Siena The province of Siena (, ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Siena. It has 259,826 inhabitants. Geography The province is divided into seven historical areas: * Alta Val d'Elsa * Chian ...
,
Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...
, in the historical region of
Val d'Orcia The Val d'Orcia or Valdorcia () is a region of Tuscany, central Italy, which extends from the hills south of Siena to Monte Amiata. Its gentle, cultivated hills are occasionally broken by gullies and by towns and villages such as Pienza (rebu ...
. Situated between the towns of
Montepulciano Montepulciano () is a medieval and Renaissance hill town and ''comune'' in the Italian province of Siena in southern Tuscany. It sits high on a limestone ridge, east of Pienza, southeast of Siena, southeast of Florence, and north of Rome ...
and
Montalcino Montalcino is a hill town and ''comune'' in the province of Siena, Tuscany, central Italy. The town is located to the west of Pienza, close to the Crete Senesi in Val d'Orcia. It is from Siena, from Florence and from Pisa. Monte Amiata is l ...
, it is considered the "touchstone of Renaissance urbanism". In 1996,
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
declared the town a
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
, and in 2004 the entire valley, the ''Val d'Orcia'', was included on the list of UNESCO's World Cultural Landscapes.


History

Before the village was renamed ''Pienza'' its name was ''Corsignano''. It is first mentioned in documents from the 9th century. Around 1300 parts of the village became property of the Piccolomini family after Enghelberto d'Ugo Piccolomini had received the fief of Montertari in
Val d'Orcia The Val d'Orcia or Valdorcia () is a region of Tuscany, central Italy, which extends from the hills south of Siena to Monte Amiata. Its gentle, cultivated hills are occasionally broken by gullies and by towns and villages such as Pienza (rebu ...
from the emperor Frederick II in 1220. In the 13th century
Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...
settled down in Corsignano. In 1405 Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini () was born in Corsignano, a Renaissance humanist born into an exiled Sienese family, who later became
Pope Pius II Pope Pius II (, ), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini (; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August 1458 to his death in 1464. Aeneas Silvius was an author, diplomat, ...
. Once he became Pope, Piccolomini had the entire village rebuilt as an ideal
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
town and renamed it ''Pienza'' ("city of Pius"). Intended as a retreat from
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, it represents the first application of humanist
urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...
concepts, creating an impetus for planning that was adopted in other Italian towns and cities and eventually spread to other European centers. The rebuilding was done by Florentine architect Bernardo Gambarelli (known as
Bernardo Rossellino Bernardo di Matteo del Borra Gamberelli (1409–1464), better known as Bernardo Rossellino, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect, the elder brother of the sculptor Antonio Rossellino. As a member of the second generation of Renaiss ...
) who may have worked with the humanist and architect
Leon Battista Alberti Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, Catholic priest, priest, linguistics, linguist, philosopher, and cryptography, cryptographer; he epitomised the natu ...
, although there are no documents to prove it for sure. Alberti was in the employ of the
Papal Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes us ...
at the time and served as an advisor to Pius. Construction started about 1459. Pope Pius II consecrated the Duomo on 29 August 1462, during his long summer visit. He included a detailed description of the structures in his ''Commentaries'', written during the last two years of his life. In 2023, Pienza faced a significant controversy when its centuries-old clock tower bells were silenced at night due to tourist complaints about noise from those staying in nearby hotels. The decision stirred debate among residents, with some expressing nostalgia for the nightly tolls that had been a part of their lives for generations.


Main sights


Palazzo Piccolomini

The trapezoidal piazza is defined by four buildings. The principal residence, '' Palazzo Piccolomini'', is on the west side. It has three stories, articulated by pilasters and entablature courses, with a twin-lighted cross window set within each bay. This structure is similar to Alberti's
Palazzo Rucellai Palazzo Rucellai is a palatial fifteenth-century townhouse on the Via della Vigna Nuova in Florence, Italy. The Rucellai Palace is believed by most scholars to have been designed for Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai by Leon Battista Alberti between 1446 ...
in Florence and other later palaces. Noteworthy is the internal court of the palazzo. The back of the palace, to the south, is defined by
loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior Long gallery, gallery or corridor, often on an upper level, sometimes on the ground level of a building. The corridor is open to the elements because its outer wall is only parti ...
on all three floors that overlook an enclosed
Italian Renaissance garden The Italian Renaissance garden was a new style of garden which emerged in the late 15th century at villas in Rome and Florence, inspired by classical ideals of order and beauty, and intended for the pleasure of the view of the garden and the land ...
with '' Giardino all'italiana'' era modifications, and views into the distant landscape of the
Val d'Orcia The Val d'Orcia or Valdorcia () is a region of Tuscany, central Italy, which extends from the hills south of Siena to Monte Amiata. Its gentle, cultivated hills are occasionally broken by gullies and by towns and villages such as Pienza (rebu ...
and Pope Pius's beloved
Monte Amiata Mount Amiata is the largest of the lava domes in the Amiata lava dome complex located about 20 km northwest of Lake Bolsena in the southern Tuscany region of Italy. It is located within the provinces of Grosseto and Siena. Geology Mount ...
beyond. Below this garden is a vaulted stable that had stalls for 100 horses.


The Duomo

The ''Duomo'' (Cathedral), which dominates the center of the piazza, has a facade that is one of the earliest designed in the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
manner. Although the tripartite division is conventional, the use of pilasters and of columns, standing on high dados and linked by
arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...
es, was novel for the time. The
bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...
, however, has a Germanic flavor as is the layout of the '' Hallenkirche'' plan, a "triple-nave" plan where the side aisles are almost as tall as the nave; Pius, before he became pope, served many years in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
and praised the effects of light admitted into the German hall churches in his ''Commentari''. Works of art in the duomo include five altar paintings from the Sienese School, by
Sano di Pietro Sano may refer to: Geography * Sano, Kentucky, U.S. * Sano, Tochigi, Japan * Monte Sano Mountain, a mountain in Alabama, United States ** Monte Sano State Park * Wai Sano, a volcano in Flores, Indonesia Fiction * Sano (''Rurouni Kenshin''), a ch ...
, Matteo di Giovanni, Vecchietta and Giovanni di Paolo. The Baptistry, dedicated as usual to '' San Giovanni'', is located next to the apse of the church.


Palazzo Vescovile

Pius encouraged cardinals to build ''palazzi'' to complete the city. ''Palazzo Vescovile'', on the third side of the piazza, was built by Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, at the time Church Vice Chancellor and the future Pope Alexander VI, to comply with the request by Pope Pius II for the Cardinals to have a residence in the town. It became the residence of the Bishop of Pienza when the town was elevated to a bishopric in 1462. It is now home to the Diocesan Museum,Diocesan Museum
and the Museo della Cattedrale. The collection includes local textile work as well as religious artifacts. Paintings include a 12th-century painted crucifix from the Abbey of San Pietro in Vollore, 14th century works by
Pietro Lorenzetti Pietro Lorenzetti (; – 1348) or Pietro Laurati was an Italian painter, active between and 1345. Together with his younger brother Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Ambrogio, he introduced Realism (arts), naturalism into Sienese School, Sienese art. In the ...
(''Madonna with Child'') and Bartolo di Fredi (''Madonna della Misericordia''). There are also important works from the 14th and 15th centuries, including a Madonna attributed to Luca Signorelli.


Palazzo Comunale

Across from the church is the town hall, or ''Palazzo Comunale''. When Corsigniano was given the status of an official city, a ''Palazzo'' was required that would be in keeping with the "city's" new urban position, although it was certainly more for show than anything else. It has a three-arched loggia on the ground floor facing the Cathedral and above it is the council chamber. It also has a brick bell tower that is shorter than its counterpart at the cathedral, to symbolize the superior power of the church. The set-back addition to the tower dates from 1599. It is likely that Bernardo Rossellino designed the ''Palazzo Comunale'' to be a free standing civic mediator between the religious space before the cathedral and secular market square to its rear. The travertine well in the Piazza carries the Piccolomini family crest, and was widely copied in Tuscany during the following century. The well-head resembles a fluted, shallow Etruscan Bowl. The flanking Corinthian support a classical entablature columns whose decorations are clearly based upon actual source materials.


Other buildings

Other buildings in Pienza dating from the era of Pius II include the Ammannati Palace, named for Cardinal Jacopo Piccolomini-Ammannati, a "curial row" of three palaces (the Palazzo Jouffroy or Atrebatense belonging to Cardinal
Jean Jouffroy Jean Jouffroy (c. 1412–1473) was a Burgundian prelate and diplomat. He was born at Luxeuil-les-Bains in the County of Burgundy. After entering the Benedictine order and teaching at the university of Pavia from 1435 to 1438, he became almoner ...
of Arras, the Palazzo Buonconti, belonging to Vatican Treasurer Giliforte dei Buonconti, and the Palazzo Lolli constructed by apostolic secretary and papal relative Gregorio Lolli) arranged along the street behind the Bishops Palace. along the main road there are also the Palazzo Gonzaga, built in 1463 by Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga, Palazzo Forteguerri built in 1460 by Ambrogio Fortguerri, Apostolic Treasurer, and the Palazzo of Ambrogio Spannocchi, now Cittadini, again of the XV century. In the northeastern corner of Pienza, in via Casanuova, is a series of Twelve row houses constructed at the orders of the pope by the Sienese building contractor Pietro Paolo da Porrina. About fifty meters west of the Cathedral Piazza is the church of '' San Francesco'', with a gabled facade and Gothic portal. Among the buildings that survived from the old Corsignano, it is built on a pre-existing church that dated from the 8th century. The interior contains frescoes depicting the life of Saint Francis, those on the walls having been painted by Cristofano di Bindoccio and Meo di Pero, 14th-century artists of the Sienese School. The Romanesque '' Pieve of Corsignano is located in the neighbourhood. The monastery of ''Sant'Anna in Camprena'' was founded in 1332-1334 by
Bernardo Tolomei Bernardo Tolomei (10 May 1272 – 20 August 1348) was an Italian Catholic priest and the founder of the Congregation of the Blessed Virgin of Monte Oliveto. In the Roman Martyrology he is commemorated on 20 August, but in the Benedictine calen ...
as a hermitage for the
Benedictines The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...
; it was remade in the late 15th-early 16th century, and several times in the following centuries. The refectory houses frescoes by
il Sodoma Il Sodoma (1477 – 14 February 1549) was the name given to the Italy, Italian Renaissance Painting, painter Giovanni Antonio Bazzi. Il Sodoma painted in a manner that superimposed the High Renaissance style of early 16th-century Rome onto the tr ...
(1502–1503).


Monticchiello

The ''frazione'' of Monticchiello is home to a characteristic ''Romitorio'', a series of grottoes carved in the rock by hermit monks. In the same locality is the ''
pieve In Italy in the Middle Ages, a ''pieve'' (, ; ; : ''pievi'') was a rural church with a baptistery, upon which other churches without baptisteries depended. ''Pieve'' is also an Italian and Corsican term signifying the medieval ecclesiastical/a ...
'' of ''Santi Leonardo e Cristoforo'', rebuilt in the 13th century in Gothic style. The interior has frescoes from a 14th-century Sienese painter, a cyborium in the shape of a small Gothic portal and an alte 15th-century Crucifix. At San Pietro in Campo are the remains of the eponymous abbey. Monticchiello is the subject of the documentary '' Spettacolo'' (2017).


Municipal government

Montepulciano is headed by a
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
(') assisted by a legislative body, the ', and an executive body, the '. Since 1995 the mayor and members of the ' are directly elected together by resident citizens, while from 1945 to 1995 the mayor was chosen by the legislative body. The ' is chaired by the mayor, who appoints others members, called '. The offices of the ' are housed in a building usually called the ' or '. Since 1995 the mayor of Pienza is directly elected by citizens, originally every four, then every five years. The current mayor is Manolo Garosi (a
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
), elected on 26 May 2019 with the 59.6% of the votes and re-elected on 9 June 2024 with 59.3% of the votes. ;Notes


Gallery

File:Borgo Storico, Pienza (Siena) - panoramio.jpg, Street in the old town File:Palazzo Massaini - panoramio.jpg, Palazzo Massaini File:Qk-Pienza-Duomo-05.jpg, Palazzo Comunale and Palazzo Vescovile File:Vista da Pienza.jpg, Countryside around Pienza


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * *


External links


Piazza Pio II
{{Authority control Hilltowns in Tuscany Cities and towns in Tuscany Val d'Orcia 1459 establishments Populated places established in the 1450s World Heritage Sites in Italy