Pienza
Pienza | |
|---|---|
| Comune di Pienza | |
 | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Pienza  | |
  Pienza Location of Pienza in Italy  Pienza Pienza (Tuscany) | |
| Coordinates:43°04′43″N11°40′44″E/ 43.07861°N 11.67889°E | |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Tuscany |
| Province | Siena(SI) |
| Frazioni | Cosona, La Foce,Monticchiello,Palazzo Massaini, Spadaletto |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Manolo Garosi |
| Area | |
| • Total | 122.96 km2(47.48 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 491 m (1,611 ft) |
| Population (28 February 2017)[2] | |
| • Total | 2,091 |
| • Density | 17/km2(44/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Pientini |
| Time zone | UTC+1(CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2(CEST) |
| Postal code | 53026 |
| Dialing code | 0578 |
| Patron saint | St. Andrew the Apostle |
| Saint day | November 30 |
| Website | Official website |
| Official name | Historic Centre of the City of Pienza |
| Criteria | Cultural: (i)(ii)(iv) |
| Reference | 789 |
| Inscription | 1996 (20thSession) |
| Area | 4.41 ha (10.9 acres) |
Pienza(Italian pronunciation:[piˈɛntsa]) is a town andcomunein theprovince of Siena,Tuscany,in the historical region ofVal d'Orcia.Situated between the towns ofMontepulcianoandMontalcino,it is considered the "touchstone of Renaissance urbanism".[3]
In 1996,UNESCOdeclared the town aWorld Heritage Site,and in 2004 the entire valley, theVal d'Orcia,was included on the list ofUNESCO's World Cultural Landscapes.
History[edit]
Before the village was renamedPienzaits name wasCorsignano.It is first mentioned in documents from the 9th century. Around 1300 parts of the village became property of thePiccolominifamily.[4]After Enghelberto d'Ugo Piccolomini had received the fief of Montertari inVal d'Orciafrom the emperorFrederick IIin 1220.[5]In the 13th centuryFranciscanssettled down in Corsignano.[4]
In 1405 Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini (Italian:Enea Silvio Piccolomini) was born in Corsignano, aRenaissance humanistborn into an exiled Sienese family, who later becamePope Pius II.Once he became Pope, Piccolomini had the entire village rebuilt as an idealRenaissancetown and renamed itPienza( "city of Pius" ).[6]Intended as a retreat fromRome,it represents the first application of humanisturban planningconcepts, creating an impetus for planning that was adopted in other Italian towns and cities and eventually spread to other European centers.
The rebuilding was done by Florentine architect Bernardo Gambarelli (known asBernardo Rossellino) who may have worked with the humanist and architectLeon Battista Alberti,although there are no documents to prove it for sure. Alberti was in the employ of thePapal Curiaat the time and served as an advisor to Pius. Construction started about 1459. Pope Pius II consecrated the Duomo on 29 August 1462, during his long summer visit. He included a detailed description of the structures in hisCommentaries,written during the last two years of his life.
In 2023, Pienza faced a significant controversy when its centuries-old clock tower bells were silenced at night due to tourist complaints about noise from those staying in nearby hotels. The decision stirred debate among residents, with some expressing nostalgia for the nightly tolls that had been a part of their lives for generations.[7]
Main sights[edit]
Palazzo Piccolomini[edit]
The trapezoidal piazza is defined by four buildings. The principal residence,Palazzo Piccolomini,is on the west side. It has three stories, articulated by pilasters and entablature courses, with a twin-lightedcross windowset within each bay. This structure is similar to Alberti'sPalazzo Rucellaiin Florence and other later palaces. Noteworthy is the internal court of the palazzo. The back of the palace, to the south, is defined byloggiaon all three floors that overlook an enclosedItalian Renaissance gardenwithGiardino all'italianaera modifications, and views into the distant landscape of theVal d'Orciaand Pope Pius's belovedMonte Amiatabeyond. Below this garden is a vaulted stable that had stalls for 100 horses.[8]
The Duomo[edit]
TheDuomo(Cathedral), which dominates the center of the piazza, has a facade that is one of the earliest designed in theRenaissancemanner. Although the tripartite division is conventional, the use of pilasters and of columns, standing on highdadosand linked byarches,was novel for the time. Thebell tower,however, has a Germanic flavor as is the layout of theHallenkircheplan, a "triple-nave" plan where the side aisles are almost as tall as the nave; Pius, before he became pope, served many years inGermanyand praised the effects of light admitted into the German hall churches in hisCommentari.[9]Works of art in the duomo include five altar paintings from theSienese School,bySano di Pietro,Matteo di Giovanni,VecchiettaandGiovanni di Paolo.The Baptistry, dedicated as usual toSan Giovanni,is located next to the apse of the church.
Palazzo Vescovile[edit]
Pius encouraged cardinals to buildpalazzito complete the city.Palazzo Vescovile,on the third side of the piazza, was built by Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, at the time Church Vice Chancellor and the future Pope Alexander VI, to comply with the request by Pope Pius II for the Cardinals to have a residence in the town. It became the residence of the Bishop of Pienza when the town was elevated to a bishopric in 1462. It is now home to the Diocesan Museum,[10]and the Museo della Cattedrale. The collection includes local textile work as well as religious artifacts. Paintings include a 12th-century painted crucifix from the Abbey of San Pietro in Vollore, 14th century works byPietro Lorenzetti(Madonna with Child) andBartolo di Fredi(Madonna della Misericordia). There are also important works from the 14th and 15th centuries, including a Madonna attributed toLuca Signorelli.
Palazzo Comunale[edit]
Across from the church is the town hall, orPalazzo Comunale.When Corsigniano was given the status of an official city, aPalazzowas required that would be in keeping with the "city's" new urban position, although it was certainly more for show than anything else. It has a three-arched loggia on the ground floor facing the Cathedral and above it is the council chamber. It also has a brick bell tower that is shorter than its counterpart at the cathedral, to symbolize the superior power of the church. The set-back addition to the tower dates from 1599. It is likely that Bernardo Rossellino designed thePalazzo Comunaleto be a free standing civic mediator between the religious space before the cathedral and secular market square to its rear.
The travertine well in the Piazza carries the Piccolomini family crest, and was widely copied in Tuscany during the following century. The well-head resembles a fluted, shallow Etruscan Bowl. The flanking Corinthian support a classical entablature columns whose decorations are clearly based upon actual source materials.
Other buildings[edit]
Other buildings in Pienza dating from the era ofPius IIinclude the Ammannati Palace, named for CardinalJacopo Piccolomini-Ammannati,a "curial row" of three palaces (the Palazzo Jouffroy or Atrebatense belonging to CardinalJean Jouffroyof Arras, the Palazzo Buonconti, belonging to Vatican Treasurer Giliforte dei Buonconti, and the Palazzo Lolli constructed by apostolic secretary and papal relativeGregorio Lolli) arranged along the street behind the Bishops Palace. along the main road there are also the Palazzo Gonzaga, built in 1463 by Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga, Palazzo Forteguerri built in 1460 by Ambrogio Fortguerri, Apostolic Treasurer, and the Palazzo of Ambrogio Spannocchi, now Cittadini, again of the XV century. In the northeastern corner of Pienza, in via Casanuova, is a series of Twelve row houses constructed at the orders of the pope by the Sienese building contractor Pietro Paolo da Porrina.
About fifty meters west of the Cathedral Piazza is the church ofSan Francesco,with a gabled facade and Gothic portal. Among the buildings that survived from the old Corsignano, it is built on a pre-existing church that dated from the 8th century. The interior contains frescoes depicting the life ofSaint Francis,those on the walls having been painted byCristofano di BindoccioandMeo di Pero,14th-century artists of theSienese School.
The RomanesquePieve of Corsignanois located in the neighbourhood. The monastery ofSant'Anna in Camprenawas founded in 1332-1334 byBernardo Tolomeias a hermitage for theBenedictines;it was remade in the late 15th-early 16th century, and several times in the following centuries. The refectory houses frescoes byil Sodoma(1502–1503).
Monticchiello[edit]
ThefrazioneofMonticchiellois home to a characteristicRomitorio,a series of grottoes carved in the rock by hermit monks. In the same locality is thepieveofSanti Leonardo e Cristoforo,rebuilt in the 13th century inGothicstyle. The interior has frescoes from a 14th-century Sienese painter, acyboriumin the shape of a small Gothic portal and an alte 15th-century Crucifix. At San Pietro in Campo are the remains of the eponymous abbey.
Monticchiello is the subject of the documentarySpettacolo(2017).
Municipal government[edit]
Montepulciano is headed by amayor(sindaco) assisted by a legislative body, theconsiglio comunale,and an executive body, thegiunta comunale.Since 1995 the mayor and members of theconsiglio comunaleare directly elected together by resident citizens, while from 1945 to 1995 the mayor was chosen by the legislative body. Thegiunta comunaleis chaired by the mayor, who appoints others members, calledassessori.The offices of thecomuneare housed in a building usually called themunicipioorpalazzo comunale.
Since 1995 the mayor of Pienza is directly elected by citizens, originally every four, then every five years. The current mayor is Manolo Garosi (aleft-wingindependent), elected on 26 May 2019 with the 59.6% of the votes and re-elected on 9 June 2024 with 59.3% of the votes.
| Mayor | Term start | Term end | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sauro Marchetti | 27 May 1990 | 14 June 1999 | PDS | |
| Marco Del Ciondolo | 14 June 1999 | 8 June 2009 | DS | |
| Fabrizio Fè | 8 June 2009 | 27 May 2019 | Ind[a] | |
| Manolo Garosi | 27 May 2019 | incumbent | Ind[b] |
- Notes
Gallery[edit]
-
Street in the old town -
Palazzo Massaini -
Palazzo Comunale and Palazzo Vescovile -
Countryside around Pienza
References[edit]
- ^"Superficie di Comuni Province e Regioni italiane al 9 ottobre 2011".Italian National Institute of Statistics.Retrieved16 March2019.
- ^"Popolazione Residente al 1° Gennaio 2018".Italian National Institute of Statistics.Retrieved16 March2019.
- ^Adams 1985,pp. 99–110. Adams details the piecemeal acquisition of parcels of land by Pius II.
- ^abTönnesmann 2013,p. 35
- ^Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)..Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 580.
- ^Haegen, Anne Mueller von der; Strasser, Ruth F. (2013). "Pienza".Art & Architecture: Tuscany.Potsdam: H.F.Ullmann Publishing. pp. 394–395.ISBN978-3-8480-0321-1.
- ^Magazine, Smithsonian; Kuta, Sarah."This Italian Town Silenced a Historic Bell That Kept Tourists Awake. Now, Locals Can't Sleep".Smithsonian Magazine.Retrieved2024-03-05.
- ^"Palazzo Piccolomini".Scientific Ltineraries in Tuscany.Italy.Retrieved2023-03-21.
- ^"As you enter the middle door, the entire church with its altars and chapels is visible and is remarkable for the clarity of the light and the brilliance of the whole edifice. There are three naves, as they are called. The middle one is wider. All are the same height. This was according to the directions of Pius, who had seen the plan among the Germans in Austria" Quoted in Henk W. van Os, "Painting in a House of Glass: The Altarpieces of Pienza"Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art17.1 (1987, pp. 23-38)
- ^Diocesan Museum.
Sources[edit]
- Adams, Nicholas (May 1985). "The Acquisition of Pienza, 1459-1464".Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians.44(2): 99–110.
- Adams, Nicholas (1989). "The Construction of Pienza (1459-1464) and the Consequences of Renovatio". In Zimmerman, Susan; Weissman, Ronald (eds.).Urban Life in the Renaissance.Newark: Univ. of Delaware Press. pp. 50–79.
- Carli, Enzo (1966).Pienza: la Citta di Pio II.Rome: Editalia.
- Cataldi, Giancarlo; Formichi, Fausto (2007).Pienza Forma Urbis.Florence: Aion Edizioni.
- Mack, Charles (2012). "Beyond the Monumental:The Semiotics of Papal Authority in Renaissance Pienza".Southeastern College Art Conference Review.16(2): 124–50.
- Mack, Charles (1987).Pienza: the Creation of a Renaissance City.Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
- Mayernik, David (2003).Timeless Cities: An Architect's Reflections on Renaissance Italy.Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
- Piccolomini, Aeneas Silvius (1959). Gabel, Leona (ed.).Memoirs of a Renaissance Pope.Translated by Gragg, Florence. New York: Capricorn Books.
- Pieper, Jan (1997).Pienza: der Entwurf einer humanistischen Weltansicht.Stuttgart: Axel Menges.
- Smith, Christine (1992).Architecture in the Culture of Early Humanism: Ethics, Aesthetics, and Eloquence, 1400-1470.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Tönnesmann, Andreas (2013) [First published 1990].Pienza: Städtebau und Humanismus(in German) (3rd ed.). Munich: Hirmer.ISBN978-3-8031-2717-4.
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