Palazzo Piccolimini is one of the earliest examples of Renaissance architecture and was built starting in 1459 to a design by Bernardo Rossellino and commissioned by Pope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini, a native of the small village of Corsignano, which would later be renamed "Pienza" in his honor.

The palace, also known as the Pontifical, was commissioned by Enea Piccolomini, or Pope Pius II, to Italian Renaissance sculpture Bernardo Rossellino, as part of the project for the reconstruction of Pienza as the ideal city.

For its construction Rossellino was inspired by the Palazzo Rucellai in Florence, the work of his master Leon Battista Alberti.

[1][2] The building is now a museum, where you can visit the ancient hall of arms, Pius II's study, bedchambers, the art and sculpture collection he built.

On a clear day, you can see distant landscape of the Val d'Orcia and the hills of Monte Amiata.