Location: Pienza
Top Things to do in Pienza
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Top 10 Things to do in Pienza, Italy
Pienza, a town in Tuscany, 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. Pienza was the birthplace of Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, who would become Pope Pius II. After he became Pope, Piccolomini had the entire village rebuilt as an ideal Renaissance town that would serve as a retreat from Rome.
Restaurants in Pienza
1. Podere Il Casale
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 169 reviews
Reviewed By Luke N
My wife and I booked this 4hr experience through our hotel in Cortona and we not disappointed. We began with a tour of the farm and finished with making our own cheese which we ate at lunch! The food (with an incredible view) was high quality. We couldnt recommend this highly enough.
2. Art Studio di Adelina Quadri
Overall Ratings
5 based on 102 reviews
Art Studio di Adelina Quadri, little schop of Val d'Orcia's watercolours in Monticchiello.
Reviewed By David B L - Los Angeles, California
Delightful art studio housed in an ancient stone storefront that you'll surely see while walking around the tiny town of Montecchiello. Has a nice selection of regional art done in watercolor format. Brightly colored with many scenes of the surrounding Tuscan countryside. Perfect for preserving memories of your vacation. ...
3. Cappella della Madonna di Vitaleta
Overall Ratings
5 based on 216 reviews
Reviewed By Richard A - Tweed Heads, Australia
The chapel formerly housed a Renaissance statue sculpted in 1590 by Andrea della Robbia. This has been moved to the Church of the Madonna in nearby San Quirico. The chapel is frequently photographed and has been classified as a UNESCO World heritage site. It is located on a hill and has cypress trees on either side of the building. The chapel was locked, but its exterior is photogenic.
4. Vintage Tours
Overall Ratings
5 based on 226 reviews
Vintage Tours is a rental company and organizes tours of vintage vehicles in Montepulciano (Si), We provide you with Vespas, Lambrettas, motorcycles and antique cars, to offer our customers a unique and exciting experience The idea Vintage Tours, comes from the Vintage, wanting to convey that pleasure in living the days as they once were, simply raising the idea of a slow tourism, thanks to our media of the 60, 70, 80. spend a day with them will be romantic and will make you go back in time … it will give a different flavour to your day! From 2014 we have included, for the less practical, automatic Vespe and scooters, the latest generation. We paired our Vespa, Lambretta, motorcycles and vintage cars to the beauty of the surrounding landscape, allowing you to visit Tuscany and Umbria with us. The beautiful streets and landscapes of the Val D’Orcia, the Crete Senesi, Chianti, of Lake Trasimeno will make you enjoy the view you will encounter, and that will guide you in the beautiful towns such as Pienza, Montepulciano, Montalcino, Asciano, Monticchiello, Cortona, Siena Bathroom Sprockets, Gaiole in Chianti and Radda in Chianti. Drive along roads with UNESCO heritage, including a tasting of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Brunello di Montalcino in the many typical farms, cheeses like the famous pecorino cheese, Cinta Senese cold cuts and honey. In conclusion, perhaps, with a nice relaxing soak in the hot pool of Bagno Vignoni in the pools or in the woods of Bagni San Filippo. The philosophy of Vintage Tours is to offer you a completely different day, making you live an original experience, high quality, with attention to every aspect. The Vintage Tours included in the rental offers loan to use the helmet, head Balaclava, Kway, Backpack, Map, a padlock and Walky Talky for groups. Also we hire, the GoPro, the classic wicker picnic basket or the original Vespa helmets. In our shop we have for sale in Montepulciano gadgets Vintage Tours, Vespa, or photo accessories, like selfie stick, portable ashtrays for smokers. The Vintage Tours, is a concept, is a unique way to experience the day. We give you the chance to choose the best of your choice (please go to our shop) And build your journey … your adventure! Know our activities and services offered in the CAR section! To follow our adventures and get to know first about our news, become a fan on face book page, Vintage Tours.
Reviewed By Pat P
Did everything they said they would
Rented 6 Vespas for a week in Tuscany
It was wonderful. Just remember you can’t ride vehicles in the main part of certain Mountains towns like Montepulciano
Also be careful on dirt roads stick to paved roads with vespas
Highly recommend if you are adventurous
5. Pieve di Corsignano
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 138 reviews
Reviewed By Aquinasmagister - Hatfield, United Kingdom
A leisurely twenty minute stroll (downhill) from the centre of Pienza (walk back uphill) will bring you to this amazing church, the original parish church of this area. A stunning crucifix is the least of whats on offer if you like the Romanesque. Beautiful capitals, strange figures (two tailed mermaids) and some tremendous Romanesque stonework give a poignant and peaceful feel to this site. Prayer and sun have soaked into its walls and you can feel becalmed in the midst of a hot afternoon in the cool shade of this beauty.
6. Teatro Povero
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 24 reviews
Reviewed By ilfull - Arezzo, Italy
I cittadini di Monticchiello sono gli attori della compagnia teatrale che ogni estate recitano nella piccola ma suggestiva piazza di questo piccolo borgo vicino a Pienza. Una chicca. E poi dopo lo spettacolo si possono assaggiare i piatti della tradizione locale. Veramente notevole.
7. Piazza Pio II
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 718 reviews
Reviewed By VoyagerAimerSourire - Greenwich, Connecticut
Visited Pienza for the first time this August and now know why the Piazza Pio II is the must-see sight in town. As the guidebooks say, this is where Renaissance urbanism all started before it became so established around Italy, but seeing it in person is a great experience. The palazzos on either side and the duomo at the center are not monumental so it gives the piazza a quaint human-sized scale, and it looks almost like an experiment in architecture (which in a sense it was, but one of the most successful ever). Drop by if you go to Pienza!
8. Pieve dei Santi Leonardo e Cristoforo
Overall Ratings
4 based on 27 reviews
Reviewed By Brun066 - Florence, Italy
As in many cases, even in this beautiful church in Monticchiello the medieval frescoes had been covered with a layer of plaster in the eighteenth century, to adapt the interior to the new tastes of the period. But in this case, luckily, the lack of money had prevented a more destructive remaking.
So - the sources tell us - in the early twentieth century, when also the memory of the frescoes was lost, the fall of some of the plaster parts revealed to the people the ancient decoration, remained almost intact below; then, after several decades lasted works, the precious "dress" of the fourteenth and fifteenth century frescoes has been fully brought to light. And today it is a valuable document about how the church of a small village as Monticchiello looked centuries ago.
The iconography of the frescoes tells us a lot about Monticchiello's role as a center that took advantage of its presence at the "Via Francigena", the pilgrim route to Rome. In fact, the saints depicted are often related to the pilgrimage's practice: e, g, the saints Cosmas and Damian, flanking a "St. Nicholas Bishop" in the left wall; or the giant fresco of St. Christopher with baby Jesus on his shoulders, in the left part of the apse.
Even Saint Leonard, who along with St. Christopher is the eponymous patron of the church, lived in France between the fifth and sixth centuries, tells us about a cult largely introduced by pilgrims; he is shown several times in the frescoes.
In short, a careful visit into this Church (aided by a leaflet available inside it) will be a worthy completion of your sightseeing in Monticchiello.
9. San Quirico d'Orcia
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 847 reviews
Reviewed By djamesNewcastle - London, United Kingdom
If travelling through the Val d'Orcia then this is a great stop off for refreshments and provisions. Over the years tourism has crept in with shops being replaced with Wine bars, but it is still a lovely base to explore the surroundings.
10. La Collegiata di San Quirico
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 158 reviews
Reviewed By preglad - New York
It's remarkable how clearly the representations outside La Collegiate di San Quirico remain after so many centuries have passed. Many of the depictions resonate other cultures and suggest to Westerners more exotic and esoteric belief systems.
Inside has ironically suffered the ravages of time more so in some ways and seems decidedly modest by comparison save for some powerful wall icons and depictions, in some cases all the more powerful for their fragile state. It's a stop well worth taking in a lovely little village that speaks more quietly of Tuscan merits than some of the more worldly vin culture superstars nearby.
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