Pienza Cathedral historical timeline

Last updated on October 14, 2026

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before 1459 — the site carries the pieve di Santa Maria, a much smaller Romanesque church oriented east–west. Its foundations were only rediscovered during the underpinning works of the 20th century.
1459–1462 — the cathedral is built on the will of Pope Pius II Piccolomini by Bernardo Rossellino, as part of the rebuilding of Corsignano into the ideal city renamed Pienza. The older church is demolished to make room.
1461–1463, approximately — Pius II commissions the panels from the best-known painters of the moment: Giovanni di Paolo, Matteo di Giovanni, Vecchietta and Sano di Pietro, with a tabernacle by Rossellino himself and a carved wooden choir.
1462 — the cathedral is consecrated on 29 August and becomes the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Pienza.
1545 — an earthquake damages the bell tower.
1570 — the bell tower is restored.
1773 — the see becomes that of the Diocese of Chiusi-Pienza.
1911–1934 — major underpinning and consolidation works are carried out on the building. They are what uncovered the foundations of the Romanesque church demolished in the 1450s.
1986 — the church becomes a co-cathedral in the Diocese of Montepulciano-Chiusi-Pienza.
1996 — the Historic Centre of the City of Pienza, this building included, is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Verified against Wikipedia, October 2026.

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Checked against Wikipedia — To enlarge the square the cathedral of Pienza was set back as far south as possible, so that its apse area and part of the transept rest on the steep slopes of the hill the town stands on, and it was built by demolishing the pre-existing and much smaller Romanesque church, which was oriented east-west and whose foundations were found during underpinning and consolidation works carried out from 1911 to 1934., The cathedral of Pienza was built on the will of Pope Pius II Piccolomini between 1459 and 1462 by Bernardo Rossellino, on the site of the older pieve di Santa Maria but differently oriented, and designed to be set scenographically into Piazza Pio II., Pienza Cathedral holds paintings executed on the commission of Pius II by the best-known artists of the time between about 1461 and 1463, including a late work by Giovanni di Paolo, two panels by Matteo di Giovanni, Vecchietta's Assumption of the Virgin, a panel by Sano di Pietro, Bernardo Rossellino's 15th-century Tabernacle of the Most Holy Sacrament in the right apsidal chapel, and a carved wooden choir of the second half of the 15th century in the central one., Pope Pius II had the entire village of his birth rebuilt as an ideal Renaissance town and renamed it Pienza, construction beginning about 1459, and the Duomo was consecrated on 29 August 1462; the architect was Bernardo Rossellino, possibly collaborating with Leon Battista Alberti, and the historic centre of Pienza was inscribed by UNESCO in 1996., The very slender bell tower of Pienza Cathedral was damaged by the earthquake of 1545 and restored in 1570., Pienza Cathedral was the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Pienza from 1462, then of the Diocese of Chiusi-Pienza from 1773, and has been a co-cathedral in the Diocese of Montepulciano-Chiusi-Pienza since 1986., The Concattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta is the principal place of worship in Pienza, in the province of Siena, co-cathedral of the diocese of Montepulciano-Chiusi-Pienza, and an Italian national monument. (October 2026).

Pienza Cathedral historical timeline

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