HISTORY
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Other than being the largest of the ten Communes of the Sienese Valdichiana, Montepulciano boasts an undisputated cultural superiority making it particularly representative of the present day situation in this area. About 14,000 people live in this area of some 165sq km which includes both hills and lowland. |
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| The main town (Montepulciano 605m), a jewelcase of artistic and architectural treasures, has a population of 5,000 and is the seat of several important pubblic offices (the tribunal, the attorney's office, local magistrates and tax offices). Another six villages (Abbadia di Montepulciano, Acquaviva, Gracciano, Montepulciano stazione, S. Albino and Valiano) form a community which is as active as it is varied. |
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This is the profile of Montepulciano, birthplace of Ambro Ambrogini, known as "il Poliziano", cardinal Roberto Bellarmino and pope Marcello II Cervini. According to tradition the town was founded by Porsenna, the Etruscan Lucumone in Chiusi, and was an agricultural centre even in Roman times. Recent pottery finds from the 3rd-2nd centuries B.C. seem to confirm this. The first documents which mention in certain terms the existance of a fortified settlement are from the year 714. In the 12th century the town political and administrative structures developed. |
| During the same period an alliance with Siena was broken and a new one formed with Florence with the intention of building a small, territorial domain. Montepulciano was burned down by the Sienese and was passed between them and the Florentines until submitting definitively to Florence. |
| In 1561 it became an episcopal seat and
obtained the title of "city" to become one of the privileged centres of a new
Gran Duchy in Tuscany. |
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| Today Montepulciano is divided as an important tourist centre as an agricultural town -with its main products, among them is the DOCG wine Nobile di Montepulciano- the most important. At the same time its tertiary activities are continually expanding and efforts are being made to safeguard the work of its local craftsmen. The rich cultural history of the main town, the untouched natural environment and the presence of the thermal baths at S. Albino all attract tourists in equal measure. |
