Pienza

One of our favorite Tuscan hill towns, besides Siena, of course, is Pienza. 

Overlooking the stunningly beautiful Val D’Orcia, it is the perfect size and perfect distance (one hour) from our home away from, Casabella, for a one day visit.

Once known as Corsignano, Pienza, in middle of the 15th  century, was razed and rebuilt by the hometown boy, Pope Pius II (Aenius Piccolomini) and then renamed in his own honor.

According to Wikipedia, it is the first known humanist urban planning project.

Pius, a scholar, poet, world traveler and diplomat, hoped his planned city would become a center for learning and commerce.

During his brief reign as pope, it flourished but never really grew or prospered after that. 

So in many ways it is a 15th century time-capsule, with its small, but beautiful renaissance piazza, anchored by the Duomo and the Piccolomini Palace.

We toured the Palace, whose other claim to fame is that it served as the setting for Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 romantic production of Romeo and Juliet.

Those of us of a certain age remember how ground breaking and beautiful that film was.

As it is the film's 50th anniversary, costumes from the film were on display and the theme song from the movie constantly wafted from the gift shop.

The palace is somewhat austere but still very interesting to tour; we had an especially good guide and interpreter this time. Larry & Sue have seen it several times.

A  bright and beautiful day, it was  great  for shopping (pecorino cheese, leather goods, and jewelry to name a few) and touring;

There were many opportunities for group shots and panoramic photos of the Orcia valley, which stretches away from the hilltop town to the beautiful Mount Amiata, the highest peak in Tuscany, which you can see in in the far distance.

For  lunch, we ate (or over indulged) at one of our favorite restaurants, La Buca delle Fatte (the mouth of the fairies). Which according to Larry, means something like A Place for Good Fortune.)

Whatever it mean, it was a fabulous and filling meal! And a fun and relaxing day.