Italy Part 2 - Tuscany towns (Monte Oliveto Maggiore Abbey, Pienza, San Quirico d'orcia)

I took a lot of pictures in Italy.

I mentioned visiting Greve in Chianti in my last blog post.  Today, I'll share some pictures from an abbey near our inn, Pienza (home of Pecorino Toscano cheese!), and San Quirico d'orcia. 
First, the abbey.  It wasn't on our planned list of places to visit, but we saw a sign near our inn & decided to check it out.  Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore, a benedictine abbey founded in the 1300's. This ended up being a major highlight of our trip.

    
The Abbey is currently home to approximately 30 monks.  One of the highlights to see is the Chiostro Grande, or Great Cloister.  It was built in the early 1400's, and the frescos depicting the life of St. Benedict were painted by Signorelli in the late 1400's.

The church itself was rebuilt in the 1700's.  Very Baroque in style.  Quite beautiful

We were also able to visit the abbey's library & pharmacy.  I loved looking at the spines of the books on the shelves in the library, going back to the 1300's, covering all sorts of subjects.  I guess it really was the center of all knowledge in those days.

Finally, the winery & wine celler.  We learned that the monks can drink 1/2 liter of wine per day if they choose.  I like that!  That's actually a lot of wine when you think about it.  I bought a bottle, which was pretty good, for 9 Euro.

Next, we visited Pienza, because I needed to get my cheese fix.  Pienza is one of the main places where Pecorino Toscano cheese is made, and they make in more varieties than I could ever imagine.  The town's history is interesting.  It was originally just a small village called Corsignano.  One of it's residents was Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, who late became Pope Pius II.  The Pope decided to rebuilt the village as an "ideal" Renaissance town in the mid 1400's.

It was a great place to spend an afternoon, walking through the small alleys & looking at the hills.  Really peaceful. 

me

Pat multitasking - on Blackberry, holding umbrella, overlooking Orcia Valley

There was a flower festival coming up on the weekend, which made the churches & squares look like Spring



The Duomo



Palazzo Vescovile, or the Bishop's Palace



Finally, some cheese.  We brought some home (don't tell Russian's customs)

Osteria Baccus may have been my favorite lunch in all of Tuscany.  Super simple onion soup & Pecorino bruschetta.  With, of course, a 1/4 liter of house red (only 5 Euro)

The last stop of the day was a small village that we saw listed on some signs on the way home.  So we decided to stop.   San Quirico d'Orcia. 

The main piazza, with part of the city walls in the background

The Collegiate Church of San Quirico, rebuilt in the 12th Century

Chiesa di San Francesco. 

I could just walk along these streets every day.

Next post, it will be the final stops on our Tuscany visit:  Montalcino & Siena.