Pienza is a rare example of Renaissance town
design. Often described as the "ideal city" or the "utopian city", it represents one of the best planned
of Renaissance towns, where a model of ideal living and government was
attempted, based on the concept of a town able to satisfy the needs of a
peaceful and hardworking populace. It represented the so-called utopia of the
"civitas" cherished by utopian thinkers for centuries.
Pienza's location in the centre of the
Val
d'Orcia, a wonderful and untouched valley,
helps the town to embody the fundamental principle that humanistic architecture
attempted to encorporate - the balanced relationship between Man and Nature.
Nowadays, Pienza is part of a territorial system called "Parco artistico, naturale e culturale della Val
d'Orcia", which aims at preservation of the extraordinary artistic heritage of the five
municipalities which constitute it:
Castiglione
d'Orcia,
Montalcino,
San Quirico
d'Orcia,
Radicofani and Pienza.
The centre of Pienza was completely redesigned by Pope Pius II in Renaissance times. He planned to transform his birthplace into a model Renaissance town. The architect Bernardo Rossellino was commissioned to build a Duomo, papal palace and town hall,
and the construction was completed in three years. |
|
|
|
|
Pieve di Corsignano
Via delle Fonti. Open by appointment.
Pope Pius II was
baptised in this 11 C Romanesque parish church on the outskirts of Pienza. It has an unusual round tower and a doorway decorated with flower
mythological motifs. A crib is sculptured on the architrave of the side doorway.
|
|
|
| "Visions
of Italy" DVD set |
 |
This
DVD set has the full PBS TV mainly-aerial footage plus an
additional hour of material.
Highly
recommended to anyone who is thinking of going to Italy, or just
wants to relive the splendour of the Italian landscape. |
| Click
here
for full details |
|
|
Duomo
of Pienza
Piazza Pio II - Open daily
The Duomo was built by the architect Rossellino (1459) and is now suffering from serious subsidence at its eastern end. There were cracks in the walls and floor of the nave, but the splendid classical proportions are remained
intact. It is flooded with light from the vast stained glass windows
ordered by Pius II. He wanted a domus vitrea (literally "a house of glass"), which would symbolize the spirit of intellectual enlightenment of the Humanist age.
|
|
|
|
|
Iris
Origo
For
insight into the history and character of Italy and the
Italian people during both Renaissance times and the
20th century, we strongly recommend the extremely
readable books of Iris Origo. |
|
|
Palazzo Piccolomini
in Pienza
Piazza Pio II - Open Tuesday - Sunday
The palazzo is next door to the Duomo and was home to Pius II's descendants until 1968. Rossellino's design for the building was influenced by Leon Battista Alberti's Palazzo Rucellai in Florence. The appartments open to the public include Pius II's bedroom and library.
|
|
|
|
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
