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Palazzo Piccolomini is in Pienza (SI), an ancient village once called Corsignano, which was renovated and enlarged in the mid-1400s by Bernando Rossellini (architect and sculptor, 1409-1464. His real name was Bernardo di Matteo Gamberelli, also called “Rossellino”).
This architect was actually commissioned by Enea Silvio Piccolomini who, after becoming Pope Pius II, wanted to turn it into his ideal city. Pienza has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996.

THE PALACE

The architectural theme is that of the relationship between the building and the surrounding landscape. Overlooking the center of Pienza on three sides, with a regular plan, the structure was built around a courtyard. The fourth side is the rear one overlooking Val d’Orcia and fitted with a seven-axis loggia and a hanging garden on the ground floor.

On the first floor, there are the noble apartments with galleries that open onto the dining lounge, the music room, the studio, the weapon hall, the library, and some bedrooms. The rooms still feature the original furniture and paintings of the past. On the ground floor, in the internal courtyard, and in the rooms, there is a permanent exhibition about the story and the construction of the palace.

THE HANGING GARDEN

It is square-shaped, enclosed by walls, and it overlooks Val d’Orcia: its construction started in 1459, and it is the first hanging garden of the Renaissance period.
It features four flower beds bordered by double box hedges and laurel trees trimmed in the shape of a dome. In the center of the garden, there is a beautiful fountain. The space shows a perfect interpenetration of art and nature, a place of contemplation and meditation, and the very humanistic vision of Pope Pius II. The ground, leveled to have a single layer, was perfectly insulated in order to prevent rainwater from reaching the stables below.

At the bottom of the green area, the garden is closed by a wall covered with ivy, in which three windows have been opened to look out over the valley.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)