Discover Piazza Grande, Montepulciano

Piazza Grande is the principal square of Montepulciano and constitutes the highest point of the town, at around 605 metres.

It was originally smaller, and surrounded by medieval buildings. The statutes of 1337 established its boundaries and its use: it was the centre of public life, it hosted a market, crimes committed in the square were punished more severely, and there was a column on which those condemned to the pillory were exposed.

Later, when the market was moved to the piazza delle Erbe, Piazza Grande took on chiefly the representative function which — under the cultural influence of the Florentine and Roman Renaissance — gave it the appearance it has today.

The square has a roughly quadrangular plan and is bounded by the compact volumes of the duomo, the Palazzo Comunale, palazzo Contucci, palazzo Nobili-Tarugi and the palazzo del Capitano. In the widening next to palazzo Nobili-Tarugi rises a well designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder during his time in the city.

The Palazzo Comunale was designed by Michelozzo, and the Comune di Montepulciano still has its offices on the square, at Piazza Grande 1.

Piazza Grande is architecture by enclosure: the square has almost no fabric of its own, and everything about it is the five buildings that hold it.

The plan

Roughly quadrangular, and delimited by the compact volumes of the duomo, the Palazzo Comunale, palazzo Contucci, palazzo Nobili-Tarugi and the palazzo del Capitano. The word the source uses — compact volumes — is exact: these are blocks rather than façades with depth, and they meet the square as solid masses.

It was originally smaller and surrounded by medieval buildings, so the present proportions are the product of clearance and rebuilding, not of a single plan.

Why it looks Florentine

Because it was. From 1390 Montepulciano was Florence's ally and then possession, in country otherwise dominated by Siena, and the square shows it: the Palazzo Comunale was designed by Michelozzo, Cosimo de' Medici's architect, and deliberately recalls Florence's own town hall. Palazzo Nobili-Tarugi is attributed to Antonio da Sangallo the Elder or to Vignola.

The source puts the transformation precisely: once the market left, the square took on a representative function which, under the cultural influence of the Florentine and Roman Renaissance, gave it its present appearance. Imported prestige, in other words, and the square is its showcase.

The unfinished cathedral

The most architecturally eloquent thing here. The cathedral's façade, of salient form, is unfinished — and so is the apex of its bell tower, marked by slender bell-chamber mullioned windows. A square built to represent authority with its principal building unclad is a permanent record of money running out.

The bell tower itself is the only surviving structure of the ancient pieve, in travertine ashlar and brick, so the oldest fabric on the square belongs to a church that no longer exists.

Sangallo's well

The one designed object standing free in the space: a well in the widening beside palazzo Nobili-Tarugi, designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder during his stay in the city. The same architect, in the same years, was building the Greek-cross church of San Biagio in the fields below the walls. A well and a centrally planned church by one hand, five minutes apart.

The square was not built so much as regulated, cleared and then dressed.

Regulated: the statutes of 1337

The first act of making is legal rather than structural. The statutes of 1337 established the square's boundaries and its use — which is to say the space existed as a defined jurisdiction before it existed as a composition.

What those statutes defined is worth stating plainly, because it is the opposite of what the square now looks like. It was the centre of public life and it held a market. Crimes committed within it were punished more severely than the same crimes committed elsewhere — a legal premium on the public space. And it carried a column on which those sentenced to the pillory were exposed.

Cleared and enlarged

The square was originally of smaller dimensions and surrounded by medieval buildings. Reaching its present size meant removing some of them, which is why the enclosing volumes read as a set of separate large blocks rather than a continuous medieval frontage.

Dressed: the Renaissance palaces

With Florence in control from 1390, the buildings arrived: Michelozzo's Palazzo Comunale in the 15th century, palazzo Nobili-Tarugi attributed to Sangallo the Elder or Vignola, palazzo Contucci and the palazzo del Capitano. Antonio da Sangallo the Elder designed the well during his stay in the city.

Repurposed: the market leaves

The decisive change of character. With the market transferred to the piazza delle Erbe, Piazza Grande stopped being a place of trade and became chiefly representative, and it is that shift — not any single building campaign — that produced the formal square of today.

Never finished: the cathedral

The last major work on the square, and the one that stayed incomplete. The cathedral was built to Ippolito Scalza's design, finishing in 1680 after a start the sources date to either 1586 or 1594. Its façade was never faced, and the apex of the surviving pieve bell tower was never completed either. Two unfinished elements on the principal square of a town that had been Florence's forward position until 1559 and had no strategic value afterwards.

Why is this square famous?

Because of what encloses it. Five compact building masses hold a roughly quadrangular space: the cathedral, the Palazzo Comunale designed by Michelozzo, palazzo Contucci, palazzo Nobili-Tarugi — attributed to Antonio da Sangallo the Elder or Vignola — and the palazzo del Capitano. It is also the highest point of Montepulciano.

What is the well?

A well designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder during his stay in the city, standing in the widening beside palazzo Nobili-Tarugi. The same architect was building the Greek-cross church of San Biagio in the fields below the walls in the same years.

Why is the cathedral façade bare brick?

Because it was never finished. The cathedral's façade is unfinished, and so is the apex of its bell tower. The cathedral was built to the design of the Orvietan Ippolito Scalza, completed in 1680 — sources differ on whether it began in 1586 or 1594 — and the stone facing never went on.

What did the statutes of 1337 say about it?

They established its boundaries and its use. The square was the centre of public life and hosted a market; crimes committed in it were punished more severely than the same crimes elsewhere; and there was a column on which those condemned to the pillory were exposed.

Why does it feel so formal if it was a market square?

Because the market left. Once it was transferred to the piazza delle Erbe, Piazza Grande took on chiefly a representative function, and under the cultural influence of the Florentine and Roman Renaissance that is what gave it the appearance it has today. It was also originally smaller and surrounded by medieval buildings.

Is there anything to pay, and does it close?

No and no — it is a public square. The Comune di Montepulciano is on it at Piazza Grande 1, switchboard 0578 7121. Note that the town's civic museum publishes nothing we can verify: its own site answered 403, so no hours or prices for it appear on this page.

How hard is it to get up here?

Harder than anywhere else in this group of towns. The square is the highest point of Montepulciano and the town is one sustained stone climb from the gate with no level alternative route. Local shuttle buses work the main street; using one uphill and walking down is a sensible plan, and in summer you should go up before 09:00 or after 18:00.

What happens here on the last Sunday of August?

The Bravio delle Botti, run on that day since the 14th century: the town's contrade race heavy barrels uphill through the streets, finishing in this square. The town is completely full that weekend.