In 1459, the Sienese Pope Pius II (Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini) transformed the provincial town of his birth, Corsignano, into an ideal Renaissance city and renamed it after himself – Pienza. His architect, Bernardo Rossellino, was a close follower of Leon Battista Alberti, and applied both medieval and classical architectural principles to his idealized urban design. Today, Pienza is a perfectly preserved Renaissance town located in the breathtakingly beautiful Col D’Orcia area of Tuscany. Buona visita!