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The Territory > Montepulciano |
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The city of Montepulciano
Poliziano Theatre |
Civic Museum of Montepulciano |
The Cathedral |
The Temple of San Biagio |
Bucelli Palace |
St. Augustine Church |
St.Agnes Church |
Poggiofanti Gardens |
Punchinello Tower |
The Grain Loggia |
Egidi Palace|
Poliziano's House |
Monte - Contucci Palace |
Nobili-Tarugi Palace |
The Griffin and Lion Well |
Ricci Palace |
St.Lucy Church |
The Sanctuary of tje Madonna of the Oak|
Montepulciano is constructed along a narrow crest of limestone, at a height of 605 metres above sea level.
The town is surrounded by walls and fortifications designed by Sangallo the Elder in 1500 by the order of Cosimo I.
Montepulciano is principally known for the grandeur of its Renaissance palaces, for the elegant beauty of its churches and
for 'Vino Nobile', one of the most appreciated Tuscan wines at an International level. The urban centre is developed along
a main street which climbs up the hill to the central square (circa. 1.5km) the Piazza Grande, which is found at the summit.
The city of Montepulciano has its past tied, in part, to the fact that it is at the crossroads of two important regional roads
(from Chiusi to Arezzo from the south to the north, and from the Valdorcia to the Valdichiana and to Trasimeno from the east to
the west) and in part to its strategic position within an area of influence of the various powerful cities of the early mediaeval
period (Orvieto, Perugia, Siena, Florence). This happened in the first centuries of the second millennium when its richness
and power developed in a remarkable way, to the point of it becoming an ambit booty, and by conquering it, an appreciable autonomy
with its selling off its alliance to the major cities that were in constant conflict among themselves.
Unfortunately it finally entered into the Florentine Sate, after 1515, when its formal importance was sanctioned (this is
reflected in the grandeur of the public and private buildings realized after that date and in the diocese building in 1561)
and it then had a slow economic and social decline to the point that, in the XVIII century the Grand-duke of Tuscany Pietro
Leopoldo took it over and sought ways of restoring life to the so prestigious yet so decadent centre.
In the XIX century the reclamation of the Valdichiana and the renewed importance of the city, which became the central
administration of the area, signalled an appreciable revitalization for it, that however, did not last beyond the first
half of the XX century. With the demographic loss in the valley, by emigration to the north by many farmers who became
the workforce in the factories, and the changing ways of cultivating the land, however, it was compensated by an corresponding
growth of the small and medium industry and services.
The city today has around 15,000 inhabitants and is the seat of the Law Courts, various Scholastic Institutes, the
Magistrates' Court, 2 Theatres (Poliziano Theatre in Montepulciano and the Theatre of the Concordi at Acquaviva di
Montepulciano), the European Academy of Music and Art, the Institute of Music, various cultural associations and the
Wine Consortium, that today all confer on it, its due prestige, also at an international level.
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