San Biagio, Montepulciano
San Biagio, Montepulciano historical timeline
Last updated on October 14, 2026- around the year 1000 — an ancient church outside the castle walls, on this site, holds the plebanial rights that would later pass to the pieve of Santa Maria in the town and from there to Montepulciano's cathedral. The religious history of the town begins here, not up on the ridge.
- before the 16th century — the site carries a Palaeochristian pieve dedicated to St Mary and subsequently to St Blaise.
- the early 16th century — only remains of that pieve survive, among them a wall carrying a fresco of the Madonna with Child and St Francis by a 14th-century Sienese painter.
- — construction of the present church begins, to a design by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder. The project is supported by Pope Leo X, who had studied under Angelo Poliziano, a native of Montepulciano.
- 1540 or 1545 — the main building is finished. The sources disagree: the article on the church gives 1540, the article on the town gives 1545, and this page asserts neither as the single answer.
- after Sangallo's death — work is directed by other superintendents.
- — construction finally ends, sixty-two years after it began.
- at some point in the build — the second of the two symmetrical bell towers in the design is abandoned, and only one is ever built.
Verified against Wikipedia, October 2026.