Tuscan Hill Towns Day 10
Tuscan Hill Towns
DAY 10 - May 14, 2005 - Discover Montepulciano & Monticchiello
Another beautiful day in paradise! We had our breakfast and then got our computer out in the lobby to send the Journal and check our mail. We tried to clean out our accounts and then helped other members of our group who wanted to check their mail also.
Today we met Giulia at 9 AM and drove 45 minutes to Montepulciano where we met Isabel again at the Temple of Saint Biagio that had been commissioned by Pope Julian II; an unusual shape for a temple in the Tuscan area as it is round with tall spires and even a balcony. The Temple itself is incomplete as the architect died, and they ran out of money, so the community built a bigger cathedral in the city center of Montepulciano. This Temple has just been cleaned so we are seeing it as it was in the early days of the church, golden in the morning sun. Isabel told us about the symbolism of the decorations of the church, especially the seashell and the Virgin Mary - the shell is for perfection, producing the pearl and the Virgin, the perfect Mother of Christ. Isabel also told us about the new philosophy during the Renaissance Period of putting man as the center of the universe; seeing the world with intelligence and man's five senses in order to reach God by perfection.
We sat inside the church and learned more about Renaissance buildings, which were initially plain, and symmetrical, with the architecture alone the symbolic beauty of the church. In later times of the baroque they were decorated with altars, stain glass windows, ornaments, statues, and gold, all to show off the wealth and power of the Catholic Church.
We drove another kilometer to the top of this hill to the city of Montepulciano, a town encircled by a historic wall and fortifications dating back to the 1500's. The town is chiefly known for its good local "Vino Nobile" wines which we had the opportunity to try. We were dropped off at the bottom of the city and following Isabel, we climbed the steep streets to begin our city tour. She told us about this city's famous annual race where teams of two have to push full wine barrels up the city streets to the Cathedral Square where the winners get to drink the barrel of wine.
When we reached the summit of the village we came to the large open Piazza where Isabel gave us an interesting interpretation of the Medici family crest where the six balls either represent pills from their apothecary beginnings or six gold balls as they were leading bankers of the era. We entered the Cathedral where she gave us a history of the building as a monument to one of the clerks of the Pope who had just died. Another unique feature is the original glazed terra cotta statues then painted white, yellow or green and glazed and made to shine like marble.
I asked several questions about the American bombings of Italy during WW II and the feelings of the Italians toward the US and Allies. She gave us a short history explaining that Hitler had an agreement with the Vatican not to bomb the cathedrals. The Italians were happy to be liberated and never felt any animosity toward the conquering/occupying
Allied forces. Many of these small towns were locations of the resistance during the war.
We stayed together halfway down the hill while Isabel explained local architecture and pointed out family coat of arms and beautiful courtyards. She left us at 11:30 so we had until 1 PM to explore the city. We found an overlook that gave us a western view of Tuscan countryside that was magnificent. At 12:15 we found a little hole-in-the-wall panini bar and shared a mozzarella and egg-plant panini, Coke, and chips. As we headed back to our meeting point we stumbled upon a Palcino Wine and Cheese Gallery that was offering free samples of wine as well as bruschetta with sun dried tomatoes, garlic and olive oil and one with diced Pecorino cheese, garlic, and spicy olive oil. We bought a shrink wrapped Pecorino cheese (from sheep) variety pack; more expensive than we would ever imagine, but we decided to splurge just this once!
We walked out of the city and met Dominico who had to make an illegal but short little stop in front of a policeman so we hopped on the bus quickly to get back on the road to Pienza. We made a brief visit to a cheese factory but because it was Saturday we did not get to see the operation. Instead we got an explanation of the process of making the different types of cheeses and we were better able to understand the aging process. We were offered generous samples of cheese based on aging along with wine from famous Montepulciano vineyards. Several people bought cheese, honey, and other local products. The most pleasant aspect of these visits is the generosity of the people we meet. Even though we may not buy their product, they are still always happy to share their bounty.
We retraced our path a bit and drove through a more wooded area to the neighboring hill town of Monticchiello, an even smaller community with only 1200 inhabitants. Italians from the large cities like to come here in the summer to enjoy the fresh air and coolness of this 2000 foot town. It is very quaint and we spent 30 minutes walking around before we had to meet back at the city entrance arch to join our group. Dominico took a series of very narrow roads back to Pienza and we arrived at our hotel at 3:45 for a few hours of free time before met our fellow travelers for dinner.
Ten members of our group went to the La Buca delle Fate for dinner along with our driver, Dominico and Guilia. We had a very good meal. Choosing from an a la carte menu, Gennie had pork and I had an excellent sausage and we both had mixed salads. After dinner we went to a nearby ice cream shop and had a gelato - nice way to end a meal.
Accommodations: Piccolo Hotel Meals: B
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