Palazzo Vescovile

Val d'Orcia (Siena) - PIENZA

Pienza è certamente il centro di maggiore rinomanza artistica di tutta la Val d'Orcia. Per volere di Papa Pio II (al secolo Enea Silvio Piccolomini), nella seconda metà del 1400, l'originario borgo di Corsignano venne trasformato, su disegno dell'architetto Bernardo Rossellino, in una cittadina elegante e armoniosa dalle tipiche forme rinascimentali. Nella piazza intitolata al Pontefice fondatore è concentrata gran parte dei tesori architettonici più rappresentativi come il Duomo, il Palazzo Piccolomini, il Palazzo Vescovile, il Palazzo Comunale e l'antico Caffè La Posta.
Dal 1996 Pienza è annoverata fra i patrimoni naturali, artistici e culturali dell' UNESCO.

Places to see in ( Pienza - Italy )

Places to see in ( Pienza - Italy )

Pienza is a town in Tuscany, Italy. The central Piazza Pio II is framed by 15th-century buildings like the Pienza Cathedral and Piccolomini Palace. The latter was Pope Pius II’s summer residence and features a roof garden with valley views. Flemish tapestries and the pope’s embroidered cape are on display at the Diocesan Museum. West is the Pieve di Corsignano, a Romanesque church with a circular bell tower.

Pienza, a town and comune in the province of Siena, in the Val d'Orcia in Tuscany (central Italy), between the towns of Montepulciano and Montalcino, is the touchstone of Renaissance urbanism. In 1996, UNESCO declared the town a World Heritage Site, and in 2004 the entire valley, the Val d'Orcia, was included on the list of UNESCO's World Cultural Landscapes.

Before the village was renamed to Pienza its name was Corsignano. It is first mentioned in documents from the 9th century. Around 1300 parts of the village became property of the Piccolomini family. after Enghelberto d'Ugo Piccolomini had been enfeoffed with the fief of Montertari in Val d'Orcia by the emperor Frederick II in 1220. In the 13th century Franciscans settled down in Corsignano.

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-lighted cross window set within each bay. This structure is similar to Alberti's Palazzo Rucellai in Florence and other later palaces. Noteworthy is the internal court of the palazzo. The back of the palace, to the south, is defined by loggia on all three floors that overlook an enclosed Italian Renaissance garden with Giardino all'italiana era modifications, and views into the distant landscape of the Val d'Orcia and Pope Pius's beloved Mount Amiata beyond. Below this garden is a vaulted stable that had stalls for 100 horses.

The Duomo (Cathedral), which dominates the center of the piazza, has a facade that is one of the earliest designed in the Renaissance manner. Though the tripartite division is conventional, the use of pilasters and of columns, standing on high dados and linked by arches, was novel for the time. The bell tower, however, has a Germanic flavor as is the layout of the Hallenkirche plan, a triple-nave plan where the side aisles are almost as tall as the nave; Pius, before he became pope, served many years in Germany and praised the effects of light admitted into the German hall churches in his Commentari. Works of art in the duomo include five altar paintings from the Sienese School, by Sano di Pietro, Matteo di Giovanni, Vecchietta and Giovanni di Paolo. The Baptistry, dedicated as usual to San Giovanni, is located next to the apse of the church.

Pius encouraged cardinals to build palazzi to complete the city. Palazzo Vescovile, on the third side of the piazza, was built to house the bishops who would travel to Pienza to attend the pope. Its construction was financed by Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (the future Pope Alexander VI but, at the time, Vatican Vice-Chancellor). Across from the church is the town hall, or Palazzo Comunale. When Corsigniano was given the status of an official city, a Palazzo was required that would be in keeping with the city's new urban position, though it was certainly more for show than anything else.

Other buildings in Pienza dating from the era of Pius II include the Ammannati Palace, named for Cardinal Jacopo Piccolomini-Ammannati, a curial row of three palaces (the Palazzo Jouffroy or Atrebatense belonging to Cardinal Jean Jouffroy, the Palazzo Buonconti, belonging to Vatican Treasurer Giliforte dei Buonconti, and the Palazzo Lolli constructed by apostolic secretary and papal relative Gregorio Lolli) arranged along the street behind the Bishops Palace. In the northeastern corner of Pienza is a series of twelve row houses constructed at the orders of the pope by the Sienese building contractor Pietro Paolo da Porrina.

( Pienza - Italy ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting Pienza . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Pienza - Italy

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