Discover Pienza

Pienza is a village of 2,091 people that exists because a pope was born here and decided to rebuild it. It is the one town in Tuscany that was designed rather than grown, and it is small enough to walk across in ten minutes.

Pius II was born in 1405 in a village called Corsignano. Having become pope, he had the entire place rebuilt as an ideal Renaissance town and renamed it after himself. Work began about 1459, the architect was Bernardo Rossellino — possibly working with Leon Battista Alberti — and the cathedral was consecrated on 29 August 1462. Three years, start to finish.

What they built is a single square, Piazza Pio II, with four buildings around it and nothing wasted. The Duomo on one side; Palazzo Piccolomini, the pope's own residence, on the west; the Palazzo Vescovile put up by Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, later Pope Alexander VI; and the Palazzo Comunale facing the church. Historians call Pienza the touchstone of Renaissance urbanism and the first application of humanist town-planning ideas anywhere. UNESCO inscribed the historic centre in 1996.

And then there is the view. Pienza sits at 491 metres on a ridge above the Val d'Orcia, which UNESCO inscribed separately in 2004 — 61,188 hectares of cultivated hills listed partly because the landscape has been painted since the Renaissance. From the lane behind the cathedral you are looking at the thing the paintings are of.

Who built Pienza, and why?

Pius II commissioned it; Bernardo Rossellino designed it. The pope was born here in 1405 when the place was a village called Corsignano, and from about 1459 he had it rebuilt as an ideal Renaissance town and renamed after himself. The cathedral was consecrated on 29 August 1462. (Older descriptions of this page credited the design to the pope himself — he was the patron, not the architect, and on a page about architecture that distinction matters.)

Why is Pienza famous among architects?

Because it is described as the touchstone of Renaissance urbanism and the first application of humanist urban planning concepts anywhere. Piazza Pio II is composed — four buildings placed in deliberate relation so the whole reads from a single viewpoint — rather than accumulated the way medieval squares were. UNESCO inscribed the historic centre in 1996.

Is there really more than one UNESCO site here?

Yes, two, and they are separate. The Historic Centre of the City of Pienza was inscribed in 1996; the Val d'Orcia, the valley the town looks over, was inscribed in 2004 under criteria (iv) and (vi) across 61,188 hectares in the provinces of Siena and Grosseto. The town is in both; Montalcino is in the second.

How long do I need?

Half a day for the town — it has 2,091 residents and ten minutes of streets — and the rest of the day for the valley. Treat Pienza as a morning and a long dinner rather than a full day.

Can I just walk into Palazzo Piccolomini?

No. The visit is guided, with an audio guide, and covers the palace and the Renaissance garden behind it. Book on +39 0577 286300; the booking office runs Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:00. The palace does not publish its ticket price on its booking page, so ask when you book.

When is the Val d'Orcia green?

Late March to May. July and August give you the bare gold hills of the book covers; November gives ploughed earth and low light; and on still winter mornings fog fills the valley and Pienza sits above it in sun. They are four different landscapes — choose before you book.

Is Pienza hard going?

No, and it is the one town in this group you can say that about. The centre is level along the ridge, it is small, and there is no climb. It is the right choice if anyone in your party struggles with hills.

Where should I buy the cheese and oil?

Not on the main street, where it is sold to people passing through at passing-through prices. The same things are made on farms in the valley you can see from the walls, and buying there — or one street off the through-route — is cheaper and better.