Piazza Pio II (Piazza Spagna) is intact, incorporanting the most rigorous of Renaissance perspective, and containing the cathedral and Palazzo Piccolomini. The town's main axis is corso Rossellino, lined with houses built by the nobility in the 14th century. The Renaissance square has a trapezium shape, and around it are the principal monuments erected by Bernardo Rossellino. In front of the Piccolomini Palace is a magnificent weil, the Pozzo dei Cani, that bears the coat-of-arms of the family. The well appeared in the film The English Patient.
The squared pavement ailows the observer to immediately evaluate the distance and proportions of the buildings.
Around Piazza Pio II, the Piccolomini and Borgia palaces and the cathedral are a testimony to this extraordinary vision which has made its historic centre one of the finest in the world.

The Cattedrale dell'Assunta was built between 1459 and 1462. While the rest of the building is in tufa, the facade is in travertine with a double order of columns and three portals. The façade that is one of the earliest designed in the Renaissance manner. Though the tripartite division is conventional, the use of pilasters and of columns, standing on high dados and linked by arches, was novel for the time.

Its luminous cathedral, Cattedrale dell'Assunta, houses panel paintings by the most renowned Sienese artists of the period. (The Assumption by Lorenzo of Pietro, The Virgin with Child by Sano of Pietro and an altar piece by Giovanni of Paolo and Matteo of Giovanni. Fragments of Romanesque sculpture are preserved in the crypt.

Palazzo Piccolomini

Next door, the imposing family residence Palazzo Piccolomini is graced with a loggia offering a fabulous panorama over Val d' Orcia. The Rucellai Palace in Florence inspired Rossellino's design of the Piccolomini Palace, the principal residence of the Pope. Today it is a museum that preserves many interesting heirlooms of the Piccolomini family. At the rear of the palazzo there is an ornate arcaded courtyard and a triple-tiered loggia looking out on the small but beautiful garden. From here there are spectacular views across to the wooded slopes of the Monte Amiata.
The Piccolomini garden was commissioned by Enea Silvio Piccolomini (Pope Pius II) from Bernardo Rossellino. The small terraced area dominates the entire Val d'Orcia and despite recent alterations still displays the typical features of the Renaissance garden.

There is a nice well, the Pozzo dei Cani, set in an angle between the palace and Corso Rossellino.

Palazzo Piccolomini Garden
The small hanging garden that occupies the space on the south side of the building, is surrounded on three sides by high stone walls covered in ivy, whilst the side overlooking the Palace is marked by a loggia and three tiered arcade. A special drainage system prevents rainwater from seeping into the vaulted spaces below, in which the stables were located.
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Palazzo Borgia | Museo della Cattedrale

Opposite the Palazzo Piccolómini, to the left of the cathedral, is the Palazzo Vescovile (Bishop's Palace), which dates in its present form from the 15th century. It was built for Rodrigo Borgia, later Pope Alexander VI. The Episcopal Palace was purchased by the Pope for the Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, who transformed it by addicting a storey and replacing the Gothic windows. To the right of the bishop's palace, with its facade looking on to the side wall of the cathedral, is the Casa dei Canónici, a palazzo in restrained Renaissance style. It is now occupied by the Museo Diocesano di Arte Sacra, also known as the Museo della Cattedrale.

Facing the north front of the Palazzo Piccolómini, in Corso Rossellino, is the Palazzo Ammannati, built for Cardinal Giácomo Ammannati of Pavia, a friend of Pius II's.

The Palazzo Comunale, made of stuccoed tufa and brick with graffito, is in Tuscan style with an open lodge made of travertine at the ground level and a crenellated tower. The town hall was constructed in the second half of 1462. The bell tower was added later at a lower height than the Cathedral bell tower to underline the importance of church power over civil power. In the Counsel Room there is a beautiful fresco of the Sienese school of the 1400s by an unknown artist.

Other noteworthy buildings in Pienza include the Ammannati Palace, the Gonzaga Palace and the Palazzo del Cardinale Atrebatense, all built in the 15th century. They are are situated on the Rossellino Avenue (between the Gate al Prato to the Gate al Ciglio).

The Chiesa di San Francesco is one of the oldest Franciscan buildings of Italy and the only monument that remains of the ancient hamlet of Corsignano. The church dates from the second half of the 13th century, presents a simple hut like facade, decorated with a beautiful Gothic portal and inside a single nave with a hammer beam ceiling. The walls, one time totally frescoed, are today only represented by a few painted figurative images, mainly of evangelistic and Franciscan subjects.
The apse is completely covered with figurative frescoes representing, on the vault, the three Franciscans virtues and on the wall episodes of the life of S. Francis. These like the major part of the paintings, we re executed by Cristofano di Bindoccio and Meo di Pero, Sienese artists from the second half of the 14th century.

Outside of the historical center of Pienza, is the parish church Pieve di Corsignano, an exceptional example of Romanesque art, a fascinating monument, and essential to an understanding of the history and origins of Pienza. It is just a short walk along the road towards Le Fonti. Continue along the Saint Catherine Walk, or the Dante Alighieri Square, go down along the Via delle Fonti. Map
The Pieve dei Santi Vito e Modesto a Corsignano is characterized by a cylindric tower and a decorated fortress with mythological and fantastic themes, and ancient symbols of fertility. There are two stunning decorated portals, a cylindrical belfry, and all the sculptures that the stonemasons left on the inside and the outside of the church. Of particular interest is the minuscule crypt under the presbytery. Inside the ancient baptismal font is conserved in which Enea Silvio Piccolomini was baptized.

The hermitage Romitorio di Pienza, an Etruscan tomb excavated in the rocks and used as a hermitage in the Middle Ages, is situated near to the small seventeenth century chapel of Saint Catherine. Originally an Etruscan tomb, the romitorio was later used as a hermitage by monks in the Middle Ages. It is accessible by a short walk, and consists of a series of areas dug out of the sandstone, where the hermit monks lived, presumably from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The complex rises from a privileged position, both from a climatic and landscape point of view. A chapel was constructed in the upper part, dating from the second half of the 1500's, and contains relief sculptured into the rock, representing the Madonna suckling the Child. For the first decades of the last century, it was visited by the women of the area seeking to obtain fertility and an abundance of milk. In the lower part the hermitage there are several spaces with important rock sculptures dating from the second half of the 13th century to the 16th.
The hermitage Il Romitorio is located on a private property, Agriturismo Cretaiole. The Hermitage and adjoining ancient tuff quarry can be visited by appointment.

Castelmuzio is a little medieval village dating from the 9th century. The village, 10 km from San Giovanni d'Asso and 9 km north of Pienza, silhouettes against the sky with its ocher yellow walls, it overlooks the green valley of the torrent Trove. Castelmuzio is constructed on a volcanic limestone mount and is defended by walls and ramparts in which the cannon embrasures can still be seen. These are formed of randomly placed limestone and sandstone blocks, as is the Casa Torre in the main square.
The tower, a prominent part of the fortified castle, stood watch over the countryside to protect the citizens from local enemies and barbarians from far away. Later, in the 16th century, it became the village’s civic building and housed the town council meetings and provided residence for the town prior. The tower is part of the Palazzo Fratini, which was once the medieval Spedale di San Giovanni Battista (hospital of St. John the Baptist).
There are 4 narrows sloping streets, all leading to the square under which lies an ancient travertine based water cistern. In this square, the Piazza della Pieve, the most important buildings are La chiesa Plebana, Casa Torre, Spedale di San Giovanni Battista and la confraternità della SS Trinità and S. Bernardino.
The Pieve di San Stefano in Cennano is situated just outside the village. This small parish church has a documented history since 715 A.D. Its location was originally an Etruscan place of worship, and much later the church was built over an early Roman temple. The part you see today was built in 1285 A.D. In recent years a cemetery and Roman bath have been discovered very close to the church.

On a hill opposite the medieval fortress of Castelmuzio is the picturesque abbey of Santa Anna in Camprena.
The monastery of Sant'Anna in Camprena was founded in 132-1334 by Bernardo Tolomei as a hermitage for the Benedictines. Bernardo Tolomei was the founder of the Roman Catholic Congregation of the Blessed Virgin of Monte Oliveto. The monastery was remade in the late 15th-early 16th century, and several times in the following centuries.
One can recognize this spot as the refuge of The English Patient, a serene Romanesque compound with a Renaissance chapel that houses a fresco by Pinturicchio. In the refectory there is a beautiful cycle of frescoes. dating from 1503-1504, depicted on the back wall. The Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes. On the entrance wall three scenes with an enthroned S. Benedict surrounded by monks, the Pietà, the Madonna with Child, S. Anna and two Olivetan monks. All are the works of Antonio Bazzi, called Sodoma, a brilliant Piemontese artist (Vercelli 1477-Siena 1549). Santa Anna in Camprena is not open for the public.

The music festival Accademia delle Crete Senesi was founded on the initiative of some musicians of the Orchestre des Champs Elysées in Paris, among them Philippe Herreweghe. The concerts of the “Accademia delle Crete” take place in small but marvellous churches, among them Sant'Anna, chosen because of their adequate acoustics for the repertoire on the program.

Pienza is known for its pecorino, that's sheep's cheese, especially the sotto cenere or under ashes version.