Pienza (Italian pronunciation: [piˈɛntsa]) is a town and municipality in the province of Siena, Tuscany, within the historical region of Val d'Orcia. It is located between the towns of Montepulciano and Montalcino and is known as the "touchstone of Renaissance urbanism."
In 1996, UNESCO named the town a World Heritage Site. In 2004, the entire Val d'Orcia valley was added to UNESCO's list of World Cultural Landscapes.
History
Before the village was renamed Pienza, its name was Corsignano. It was first written about in documents from the 9th century. Around the year 1300, parts of the village became owned by the Piccolomini family. This happened after Enghelberto d'Ugo Piccolomini received a land grant called Montertari in Val d'Orcia from Emperor Frederick II in 1220. In the 13th century, members of the Franciscan religious order settled in Corsignano.
In 1405, Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini (also known as Enea Silvio Piccolomini in Italian) was born in Corsignano. He was a Renaissance humanist from an exiled Sienese family and later became Pope Pius II. After becoming pope, Piccolomini redesigned the entire village as an ideal Renaissance town and renamed it Pienza, meaning "city of Pius." The village was created as a peaceful retreat from Rome and showed early use of humanist ideas for planning towns. These ideas later influenced other Italian cities and European towns.
The rebuilding of Pienza was led by the Florentine architect Bernardo Gambarelli, also called Bernardo Rossellino. He may have worked with the humanist and architect Leon Battista Alberti, but there is no proof to confirm this. Alberti was working for the Papal Curia at the time and advised Pope Pius II. Construction began around 1459. Pope Pius II officially blessed the Duomo (cathedral) on August 29, 1462, during his visit to the village. He described the buildings in detail in his writings, which he completed in the last two years of his life.
In 2023, Pienza faced a major issue when its old clock tower bells were not rung at night because tourists staying in nearby hotels complained about the noise. This decision caused discussion among local residents, some of whom missed the traditional nighttime bell sounds that had been part of their lives for many years.
Main sights
The trapezoid-shaped square is surrounded by four buildings. The main house, Palazzo Piccolomini, is on the west side. It has three floors, with columns and horizontal bands separating the levels. Each section has a window with two lights in the shape of a cross. This building is similar to Alberti's Palazzo Rucellai in Florence and other later palaces. Inside the palace is a courtyard. The back of the palace, on the south side, has a three-story loggia overlooking an enclosed Italian Renaissance garden with modifications typical of the Giardino all'italiana style. The garden offers views of the distant landscape of the Val d'Orcia and Pope Pius's favorite mountain, Monte Amiata. Below the garden is a vaulted stable that once held stalls for 100 horses.
The Duomo (Cathedral), which stands at the center of the square, has a facade designed in the early Renaissance style. While the three-part division of the facade is traditional, the use of columns and pilasters on high bases connected by arches was new at the time. The bell tower, however, has a German influence, similar to the Hallenkirche plan, which features side aisles nearly as tall as the main nave. Pope Pius, before becoming pope, lived in Germany and admired the way light entered German hall churches, as he wrote in his Commentari. Inside the cathedral are five altar paintings from the Sienese School, created by Sano di Pietro, Matteo di Giovanni, Vecchietta, and Giovanni di Paolo. The Baptistry, dedicated to San Giovanni, is located next to the church's apse.
Pius encouraged cardinals to build homes to complete the city. Palazzo Vescovile, on the third side of the square, was built by Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, who later became Pope Alexander VI. He constructed it to meet Pope Pius II's request for cardinals to have a residence in the town. After the town became a bishopric in 1462, the palace became the bishop's home. Today, it houses the Diocesan Museum and the Museo della Cattedrale. The museum displays local textiles and religious items, including a 12th-century painted crucifix from the Abbey of San Pietro in Vollore, 14th-century works by Pietro Lorenzetti (Madonna with Child) and Bartolo di Fredi (Madonna della Misericordia), and important pieces from the 14th and 15th centuries, including a Madonna attributed to Luca Signorelli.
Across from the church is the town hall, or Palazzo Comunale. When Corsigniano became an official city, a building was needed to match its new status, though it was more for appearance than practical use. The ground floor has a three-arched loggia facing the cathedral, and above it is the council room. The building also has a brick bell tower shorter than the one at the cathedral, symbolizing the church's greater authority. A later addition to the tower dates to 1599. It is likely that Bernardo Rossellino designed the Palazzo Comunale to act as a civic space between the religious area near the cathedral and the secular market square behind it.
A travertine well in the square features the Piccolomini family crest and was widely copied in Tuscany in the following century. The well's top resembles a shallow, fluted Etruscan bowl. Corinthian columns support a classical entablature, with decorations based on actual historical sources.
Other buildings from Pius II's time include the Ammannati Palace, named after Cardinal Jacopo Piccolomini-Ammannati. A "curial row" of three palaces—Palazzo Jouffroy (Atrebatense) belonging to Cardinal Jean Jouffroy of Arras, Palazzo Buonconti belonging to Vatican Treasurer Giliforte dei Buonconti, and Palazzo Lolli built by apostolic secretary and papal relative Gregorio Lolli—line the street behind the Bishop's Palace. Along the main road are Palazzo Gonzaga (built in 1463 by Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga), Palazzo Forteguerri (built in 1460 by Ambrogio Forteguerri, Apostolic Treasurer), and the Palazzo of Ambrogio Spannocchi, now Cittadini, from the 15th century. In the northeastern corner of Pienza, on via Casanuova, are twelve row houses built by the Sienese contractor Pietro Paolo da Porrina at the pope's request.
About fifty meters west of the cathedral square is the church of San Francesco, with a gabled facade and Gothic entrance. Among the surviving buildings from old Corsignano, it was built on an existing church dating to the 8th century. Inside, frescoes show the life of Saint Francis, painted by 14th-century Sienese artists Cristofano di Bindoccio and Meo di Pero.
The Romanesque Pieve of Corsignano is located nearby. The monastery of Sant'Anna in Camprena was founded in 1332–1334 by Bernardo Tolomei as a hermitage for Benedictine monks. It was rebuilt in the late 15th to early 16th century and modified several times afterward. The refectory contains frescoes by il Sodoma (1502–1503).
The frazione of Monticchiello is home to a Romitorio, a series of rock-carved grottoes built by hermit monks. In the same area is the pieve of Santi Leonardo e Cristoforo, rebuilt in the 13th century in the Gothic style. The interior has frescoes by a 14th-century Sienese painter, a small Gothic-style cyborium, and a 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 led by a mayor (sindaco) who works with a legislative group called the local council (consiglio comunale) and an executive group called the municipal committee (giunta comunale). Since 1995, the mayor and members of the local council are chosen directly by people who live in Montepulciano. Before 1995, the mayor was selected by the local council. The municipal committee is led by the mayor, who appoints other members known as advisors (assessori). The offices of the town are located in a building usually called the town hall (municipio) or municipal palace (palazzo comunale).
Since 1995, the mayor of Pienza has been chosen directly by citizens. Originally, mayors were elected every four years, then every five years. The current mayor is Manolo Garosi, a left-wing independent. He was elected on May 26, 2019, with 59.6% of the votes, and re-elected on June 9, 2024, with 59.3% of the votes.
Gallery
- A street located in the historic area of the town
- The historic Palazzo Massaini
- The Palazzo Comunale and the Palazzo Vescovile, which are important buildings in the town
- The countryside surrounding the town of Pienza