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PIENZA
24km
(15 miles) E of Montalcino; 55km
(33 miles) SE of Siena; 125km (75
miles) S of Florence; 177km (110
miles) NW of Rome.
The city, or more appropriately, the town of Pienza owes any
importance it may have to one man
– Pope Pius ll – Pienza was
the town in which he was born and
it was his wish to convert it into
the ideal Renaissance city. With
the help of the architect Bernardo
Rossellino he managed to complete
the central square and its
surrounding buildings, but the
rest of his grand plans never
materialized. The village of
Pienza, however, still has its
remarkable city-sized piazza, one
of the most magnificent
achievements of Renaissance
architecture and the only intact
example of a city-planning scheme
from the era.
Pienza is situated in the middle of the picturesque rolling
farmland of Tuscany's Val d'Orcia,
on a small hill, and its beauty
encouraged Director Franco
Zefferelli to dump Verona as the
city of the Montagues and Capulets
and filmed his Romeo and Juliet
in Pienza. Pienza was also used in
the Oscar-winning epic The
English Patient.
Pienza never did fulfill the dreams of Pope Puis ll, it never
became anything more than a
village. Its 2,500 inhabitants
today jostle with the flow of
tourists with good humor, lots of
craft stands, and an excess of
health-food stores. The only
street, Corso Rossellino,
is a short two minute stroll from
one end to the other. There are a
few broad side streets within
Pienza's little walls, and small
new improvements surround the burg
on three sides with the fourth
being saved for its view. All you
need is half an hour to explore
Pienza, to admire the palaces, the
Sienese art collection, and the
Duomo at the town's perfect centre,
try the famous goat cheese and
honey; and take a short walk to
the strange, remote medieval
churches in the countryside
outside the walls.
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