In 1459 pope Pius II Piccolomini decided to turn his native village into the Renaissance's "ideal city": in three years the architect Rossellino drew the square, cathedral, palace and the perfect perspective that still enchants. Pienza has been UNESCO-listed since 1996 — eight years before the surrounding Val d'Orcia — and it is the belvedere par excellence over Tuscany's most photographed clay hills and cypress lanes.
Palazzo Piccolomini, its hanging garden facing Mount Amiata, is open to visits; the lanes of Love and of the Kiss keep their names' promises. Pienza's pecorino, aged in barrels or under ash, is the town's other monument.
castello di Cosona · castello di Spedaletto · chiesa di San Regolo and 7 more
Bistecca alla Fiorentina · Panforte di Siena
24 places to stay · top rated: La Saracina 9.8 · RELAIS VAL D'ORCIA 9.7
Next up: Feast of Saint Andrew, Monday 30 November
Nearest airport: Perugia San Francesco, 68 km away
Pienza is part of 🏘️ Villages 🏛️ UNESCO heritage
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📅 Every year, on 30 November
On 30 November Pienza celebrates Saint Andrew. The feast the town puts on in the square, though, is September's: since 1960 wheels of pecorino are rolled towards a spindle planted in the middle.
castello di Cosona A 15th-century fortified farm near Pienza with a square tower, a 1659 cistern, and 1913 restorations. 
castello di Spedaletto A 12th-century fortified complex near Pienza, converted into a Sienese agricultural grancia in 1446. 
chiesa di San Regolo The chapel at Palazzo Massaini once held a 1430s statue of Saint Regulus, now in Pienza's Diocesan Museum. 
chiesa di Sant'Anna Former Olivetan monastery near Pienza featuring Renaissance frescoes by Il Sodoma and film sets from The Engli 
chiesa di Santa Caterina Late 17th-century church in Pienza housing a revered 14th-century Sienese fresco within its Baroque high altar 
conservatorio di San Carlo A 1634 Augustinian convent in Pienza, later a girls' institute, with a Rustichino altarpiece of the 1620s. Almonds, candied fruit, flour, honey and spices pressed into a low disc: Siena's panforte has a recipe documented since 1205.
Read more →Straight-line distances from the town centre. Tap a point to open its page.
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
Outside Pienza, but an easy day trip away.
