Wednesday June 2: Tour of Pienza                Cortona-Pienza 40 Km.   On Wednesday June 2, in the afternoon, we have organized a visit of Pienza followed by a social dinner.  The detailed schedule of the tour is the following: · h. 15.00: departure from Il Palazzone by tour bus; · h. 16.15: arrival in Pienza; · h. 16.30-18.00: guided visit of Pienza; · h. 18.00-19.30: free time; · h. 19.30: drink; · h. 20.00: social dinner. The drink and the social dinner will take place at the restaurant "Il Prato" in Pienza.  The total cost of the tour (including the social dinner) is 35 Euro. On Monday May 31 the Organization will register  participants (and accompanying people)  who are interested in taking the tour. The cost of the tour must be paid at the time of registration. Participants who will arrive in Cortona after May 31 and would like to join us in this trip, should send an e-mail to our address (cortona4@mat.uniroma3.it),  indicating also the number of the accompanying people.       Pienza   Pienza, a small town near Siena, is a rare example of Renaissance town-building. Called, from time to time, the "ideal city", the "utopian city", it represents one of the best planned Renaissance towns, where a model of ideal living and governing was realized, resulting in a city where people could live and work peacefully. It represented the so called utopia of the "civitas" vainly cherished by people for centuries. Pienza has at present two museums, with a third one planned. Its location in the middle of Val d'Orcia, a wonderful and unspoiled valley, enables the town to perfectly embody the basic interest which the humanistic architecture gave to the relationship between man and nature. Nowadays Pienza is part of a territorial system called "Parco artistico, naturale e culturale della Val d'Orcia", which aims at preservation of the extraordinary artistic heritage of the five boroughs which constitute it: Castiglion d'Orcia, Montalcino, San Quirico d'Orcia, Radicofani and Pienza. The center of Pienza was completely redesigned by Pope Pius II in Renaissance times. He planned to transform his birthplace into a model Renaissance town. The architect Bernardo Rossellino was commissioned to build a Duomo, papal palace and town hall, and the construction were completed in three years.   Pienza links: 1, 2

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Last updated 03/04/2003