Pienza Cathedral (Cattedrale dell'Assunta)
Pope Pius II commissioned this luminous cathedral in 1459 and it remains one of the purest expressions of Renaissance idealism in Italy. Step inside to find five altarpieces painted by the finest Sienese masters of the day, glowing against pale stone walls flooded with afternoon light.
A Pope's Vision in Stone
Bernardo Rossellino designed the façade in crisp travertine limestone, its three arches framing a piazza so perfectly proportioned that architects still use it as a textbook example of ideal Renaissance urban planning.
Inside, the hall-church layout — three naves of equal height — floods the interior with an almost Nordic brightness that Pius II specifically requested, inspired by the Gothic churches he had seen on his travels through northern Europe.
The Altarpieces You Cannot Rush Past
The five panel paintings behind the high altar were commissioned from Giovanni di Paolo, Matteo di Giovanni, Vecchietta and Sano di Pietro — a who's-who of 15th-century Sienese art all in one room.
Look down as well as up: the intarsia choir stalls are intricately inlaid with trompe-l'œil cityscapes that reward anyone who lingers past the tour-group rush.
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