PIENZA – 42,3km/56min. driving

Pienza is at the center of the Artistic and Natural Park of Val d’Orcia, you Unesco City from the year 1996 and is considered by Italian and European historians of the ‘Ideal City’ of Pius II, an accomplished example of urban renaissance.
It is located about 20km east of Montalcino and a few km west of Montepulciano in the beautiful region of Val d’Orcia, south of Siena, between soft and poetic hills and stunning views. Pienza enjoys a strategic position, perched atop a hill, overlooking the entire Orcia valley with a breathtaking view.

This charming village is widely known as the “ideal” city of the Renaissance, the creation of the great humanist Enea Silvio Piccolomini, which became Pope Pius II. Piccolomini had the economic means and influence to turn his humble home village, Corsignano, in what he believed would be a utopian city, which was supposed to embody the principles and philosophy of the classical age and the great Italian Renaissance.

But Pienza is also the town of soccer! The pecorino of Pienza is a very tasty cheese, less or more aged, made with sheep’s milk, is very popular and really delicious. The village is full of small and charming shops selling many varieties of pecorino, more or less seasoned, that you can taste along with many other typical local products, like fabulous wines, spices, pici, honey, and many others.