Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
P
Palazzo Comunale
Piazza Grande 1.
Tel
0578 71 73 00.
Tower
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Apr-Oct: 10am-6pm
daily.
10am-1pm,
3-6pm Tue-Sun (Aug: to 7pm).
&
Museum
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&
In the 15th century, Micheloz-
zo added a tower and façade
on to the original Gothic
town hall. The building is
now a smaller version of the
Palazzo Vecchio
(see pp78-9)
.
P
Palazzo Tarugi
Piazza Grande.
to the public.
This imposing 16th-century
palazzo is located next to the
town hall.
¢
R
Duomo
Piazza Grande.
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8:30am-1pm,
3-7pm daily.
The Duomo was designed
between 1592 and 1630 by
Ippolito Scalza. The façade is
unfinished and plain, but the
interior is Classical in propor-
tions. It is the setting for an
earlier masterpiece from the
Siena School, the Assumption
of the Virgin triptych painted
by Taddeo di Bartolo in 1401.
Placed over the High Altar, it
is rich in bright, jewel-like
colours and heavily embossed
with gold leaf.
The church of Madonna di San Biagio on the outskirts of Montepulciano
Montepulciano
w
Road map
E4.
town's turbulent history are
re-enacted. For the Bravio
delle Botti, on the last Sunday
in August, there is a parade
through the streets followed
by a barrel race and a banquet.
*
14,000.
@
n
Piazza Don Minzoni 1
(0578 75 73 41).
(
Thu.
Montepulciano is built along
a narrow limestone ridge and,
at 605 m (1,950 ft) above sea
level, is one of the highest of
Tuscany's hilltop towns. The
town is encircled by walls
and fortifications designed by
Antonio da Sangallo the Elder
in 1511 for Cosimo I. Inside the
walls the streets are crammed
with Renaissance-style palazzi
and churches, but the town is
chiefly known for its good
local Vino Nobile wines
(see
p268)
. A long winding street
called the Corso climbs up
into the main square, which
crowns the summit of the hill.
On the Corso is the Art Deco
Caffè Poliziano, which has an
art gallery in the basement. In
July the café hosts a jazz
festival and the town fills with
musicians who perform at the
Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte
(see p35)
, an arts festival
directed by the German com-
poser Hans Werner Henze.
In August there are two
festivals: the Bruscello takes
place on the 14th, 15th and
16th, when scenes from the
R
Madonna di San Biagio
Via di San Biagio 14.
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7
This beautiful church with a
restored façade on the out-
skirts of Montepulciano is
perched on a platform below
the city walls. Built of honey-
and cream-coloured travertine,
it is Sangallo's masterpiece, a
Renaissance gem begun in
1518. The project occupied
him until his death in 1534.
8:30am-7pm daily.
P
Palazzo Bucelli
Via di Gracciano del Corso 73.
¢
to the public.
The lower façade of the
palazzo (1648) is studded with
ancient Etruscan reliefs and
funerary urns collected by its
18th-century antiquarian
owner, Pietro Bucelli.
Taddeo di Bartolo's triptych (1401)
R
Santa Maria dei Servi
Via del Poliziano.
7
The Corso continues from the
Piazza up to the Gothic church
of Santa Maria dei Servi. The
wine bar alongside sells Vino
Nobile from medieval storage
cellars cut out of the lime-
stone cliffs below the town.
#
by appt.
R
Sant'Agostino
Piazza Michelozzo.
daily.
Michelozzo built the church
in 1427, with an elaborate
carved portal featuring the
Virgin and Child flanked by St
John and St Augustine.
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