The week after Venice (yeah, I've been busy) we went for our Wednesday fieldtrip to two small towns, first stop: Montepulciano. We only stayed a short while to visit its renaissance church San Biagio. It was on the outskirts of town with not too much around it which made it nice to explore the grounds around the building, which was even better with the breezy beautiful weather that day and the lovely landscape views. The church itself, built from white travertine, was also nice to see with its central cross plan with a large dome. It is one of the few renaissance churches that really embodies all the elements of that era, such as alternating triangular and curved pieces above the doors and the use of the different classical orders along the sides of the towers, starting with doric order (the visually heaviest), then ionic, last corinthian (the visually lightest and most narrow).
...though very close, the towers were actually separate from the building, which created interesting paths and nooks between the two.
...some of the grounds around the church.
...inside the church. One of the four parts of the cross had been remodeled in past centuries to add more ornate decoration and frescoes, and to change it from a centralized plan to having a front alter. Originally, a renaissance building would have remained very plain, bare of all paintings and frescoes (like the right side of the photo) to emphasize the architectural details as well as create a monotone white color scheme that was supposed to represent the purity and infinity of God. ... Paolo did not seem to like the fact that frescos and some baroque style sculpture and paintings were added, lol, though I still thought they looked pretty.
... at one point while we were looking inside the church, a group of women from England started singing hymns, which reverberated wonderfully in the tall dome above. It seemed like they just wanted to test the acoustics in the church, but it was lovely, nonetheless.
Afterwards, back on the bus to go to our next destination, Pienza. ... one thing I will miss of Italy is the beautiful Tuscan landscape, the lush rolling hills and green trees and pale purple mountains in distance... much different than the flat plains back in Texas.
The first place we went to in Pienza is the Palazzo Piccolomini. This used to be a large family residence that has now been converted into a museum showcasing artifacts from the 14th and 15th centuries when it was used. It was an interesting tour, seeing how the people lived in that time (pictures weren't allowed inside though).
...this is the inner courtyard.
... this is the back yard facade of the house, showing the first and second floor arcade porches that overlook the garden.
... it had a small but very ordered back garden with trimmed hedges and flower gardens, but the best part was the view of the tuscany landscape behind it, with no buildings or trees to ruin the sight from the house.
... the main piazza for the town, in front of the Palazzo.
...wandering the streets around and along the edge of town, finding interesting streets such as the Road of Good Fortune (definitely went down that one) and the Avenue of Love (...avoided this one, lol).
Our school provided us with a large elaborate meal in Pienza, reknowned for its lasagne (above), supposedly the best in the country. It was definitely superb, very rich and creamy ... but I think I still prefer the flavor of Stouffer's better, haha (though my peers would adamentally disagree - everyone raved about it for weeks afterwards). Italian lasagna just has a different texture and flavor than american, not so much tomato sauce or meat, if any at all. It's not so much that one is better than the other, it just is hard to put them in the same category of comparison to begin with. The meal in all, though, was very extravagant. The courses just kept coming. We started with bread and wine (they had water too - oh, btw, my friend took these two pictures, so it's her setting, not mine... ie. the full wine glass is not mine, lol). Then had appetizers of bruschetta with various spreads, including an onion, a liver, and an olive one. Next we had the lasagna course. We thought that was the main dish, but they just kept serving! Then came salad and french fries. Next came the meat course, which consisted of delicious roasted chicken, roast beef, and sausages. Last, dessert (pictured below) - tiramisu (which, despite all the hype, was only so-so to me). And, the bread and wine and water was refilled throughout the meal. Let's just say, my friends got pretty happy by the end of the lunch. It was really fun, and I've never eaten such a large fancy meal before, and I doubt I ever will again - it was soo much food, we were all very stuffed.
After lunch, we got to visit the main church for the town. Although it was also a renaissance building, it was different from the first one we saw. The facade was in a similar style, but it had a nave with side aisles in a Roman cross plan. It also had stained glass windows and painted decorations on the ribbed vaulted joints.
... I really liked the flowery tracery designs on the windows of the nave.
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