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Siena · Tuscany
Things to see in Montepulciano
In Montepulciano the atlas lists 42 historic places: 29 historic villas and palaces, 6 fortresses and towers, 3 museums, 2 abbeys and monasteries and 2 historic theatres.
Of these, 1 list opening hours.
Don’t miss: Museo civico di Montepulciano (1905), museum in Montepulciano, Italy.
By date of construction, the most common period is the Modern era (50% of dated places) and the Early modern period (50% of dated places).
- 42historic places
- 13,274inhabitants
- 605 maltitude
The town
Montepulciano is a city in Tuscany famous for its wines, especially the classic red wine Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. The town has gained notability from being used as a location for the Twilight films.
Montepulciano is one of many Medieval towns dotting the Tuscan countryside in the southeast of the Italian province of Siena. It sits on a limestone ridge surrounded by the rolling hills of the Val D'Orcia and of the Val Chiana regions characteristic of towns in the area.
Montepulciano is known especially for its red wine made from Sangiovese grapes, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Its local wine is traditionally considered one of Italy's best red wines and was lauded by the poet Francesco Redi as "the king of all wines!"
Text from Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA, abridged · Wikivoyage
42 places
Villas and palaces 29
Show all 29 places
Palazzo del Capitano 
Palazzo ex collegio Magnanet 
Palazzo Salimbeni 
Conservatorio di San Girolamo 
Palazzo Avignonesi 
Palazzo Benincasa 
Palazzo Bracci Testasecca 
Palazzo Bucelli 
Palazzo Carletti 
Palazzo Cervini 
Palazzo Cocconi 
Palazzo Danesi (Montepulciano) 
Palazzo Gagnoni Grugni 
Palazzo Mosela (Montepulciano) 
Palazzo Neri Orselli 
Palazzo San Donato (Montepulciano) 
Palazzo Sisti 
Palazzo Tarugi (Montepulciano) 
Palazzo Venturi 
Logge del Grano 
Palazzo Bellarmino Palazzo Vecchio Palazzo Landucci - Martini di Cigala Fortresses and towers 6
Museums 3
Abbeys and monasteries 2
Historic theatres 2
Getting there
By road: Montepulciano is a few kilometres from the A1 Autostrada and from the more scenic SS2 from Rome to Florence. Cars are not allowed inside the old town as it is a ZTL-controlled area (except with a permit, available from hotels) so park in one of the numerous lots at the edge of the town. The lots fill up quickly in late summer, the height of the tourist season.
By bus: Buses, departing from Piazza Pietro Nenni, connect Montepulciano with many other Tuscan cities: Siena (75 minutes, 4/day none on Sunday), Pienza (30 minutes, 8/day), Montalcino (1 hour, 10/day, change in Torrenien) and Chiusi (hourly). Route #146 into Montepulciano is quite scenic. See Tuscany#Get_around for tips.
If you are walking into town from the bus station (autostazione in Italian), there is a pedestrian short-cut with an elevator and stairs to the top of the cliff. The entrance is through a portal on Via delle Lettere at the corner of Piazzale dello Sterro, about 50 m from the bus station.
By rail: The nearest railhead is a half-hour drive away at Chiusi from where there are frequent trains to Florence and Rome.
Text from Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA, abridged · Wikivoyage
What to see, according to Wikivoyage
Piazza Grande. Pleasant piazza surrounded by great architecture, like the medieval Palazzo Comunale, Contucci Palace, & Palazzo de' Nobili-Tarugi Civic Museum. San Biagio Church. A wonderful Renaissance church with soaring nave & dome, with a challenging walk from the church to the town centre. Palazzo Comunale. Cantina wine cellars, Streets surrounding Piazza Grande. Ask to visit the cellars of the various cantinas (e.g. Contucci, Talosa). Free tours are available or you can wander them yourself. See wine aging in gigantic oak barrels as well as vintage wines in the cool caverns within the hillside of the old town. Free.
Text from Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA, abridged · Wikivoyage · Underlined names link to our own pages.