Historic Centre of the City of Pienza, Toscana - Italy
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ArktiS
N 43° 04.650 E 011° 40.700
32T E 718037 N 4772903
Historic Centre of the City of Pienza in Val d'Orcia, Toscana is one of the first Renaissance towns.
Waymark Code: WM8NA1
Location: Toscana, Italy
Date Posted: 04/23/2010
Views: 15
Pienza is a city in Toscana (Tuscany), Italy, with a population of apx. 2,200. Pienza is situated on a hill with a great view over the valley by the name of Val d'Orcia.
Until 1462 the city was a small village by the name of Corsignana. In 1405 Enea Silvio Piccolomini was born in this
city. In 1458 he was elected as pope - Pius II - and he decided that his birthtown should be transformed into a new
town in strict accordance with the Renaissance Humanist concept of urban design. The rebuilding process took apx.
two years.
This new vision of urban space was realized in the superb square known as Piazza Pio II and the buildings around it: the Piccolomini Palace, the Borgia Palace and the cathedral with its pure Renaissance exterior and an interior in the late Gothic style of south German churches.
In addition to this many new buildings were built in the town and the streets were redesigned in accordance with the Renaissance ideals of more space and regularity.
In 1996 Pienza was listed on UNESCO's World Heritage List because it represents one of the first attempts to create
a "ideal town" in accordance with the Renaissance Humanist concept of urban design, and as such still appears in its
original concept.