Main square
Renaissance buildings.
Eric Kilby — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Eric Kilby — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Konradr — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Konradr — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Konradr — CC BY-SA 3.0
Pienza is a small town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, central Italy, in the historic Val d'Orcia between Montepulciano and Montalcino, about 39 km southeast of Siena in a straight line. It is considered «the touchstone of Renaissance urbanism». The town was once called Corsignano and appears in documents from the 9th century. Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini was born here in 1405 and later replanned it in the 15th century as an ideal Renaissance town. In 1996 UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site, and in 2004 the whole Val d'Orcia was added as a cultural landscape. The town sits on the edge of a hill, its main square framed by harmonious Renaissance stone buildings, with narrow lanes bearing poetic names around it. From its southern walls a view opens over the rolling gold and green hills of the Val d'Orcia, cypresses and scattered stone farmhouses. Visitors wander the square and lanes, walk the promenade along the walls for the valley view and taste the pecorino cheese the town is known for. The visit is often combined with Montepulciano and a drive through the Val d'Orcia.
Renaissance buildings.
Valley views.
A local product.
Pienza, Siena, Tuscany, Italy
Yes, from Siena.
Montepulciano.
