San Biagio Church - Montepulciano, Italy

Built from locally quarried travertine San Biagio Church sits at the base of  the medieval hill town of Montepulciano. We could see the church from the wall of the town and we just knew we'd have to make our way down the hill to check it out. 

The church is even more impressive close up. Built around 1500 the church was designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Elder. A nice solid building.

The dome of San Biagio served as the inspiration for the dome of St. Peter's at the Vatican.

The front of the church is actually pretty plain with one lone tower. There was supposed to be a matching tower but it was never built. Even so it is a beautiful, impressive church surrounded by a lush green lawn perfect for a picnic or a little nap.

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Hill Towns of Italy - Montepulciano

Italy is dotted with hill towns. And they're just what they sound like. Towns set on top of a hill. Originally built for defense a town set high on a hill could certainly see the enemies approach and ward off attacks. The problem with a hill town is you can only expand as big as your hill. Might be bad for expansion but it's great for preservation. Many hill towns retain their original character while the town expansion took place at the base of the hill. 

Italy has hundreds of hill towns including Orvieto, Volterra, San Gimignano, Assisi, and Siena.

We visited several hill towns but our favorite was Montepulciano in Tuscany. Far less touristy than most of the other hill towns it made for a peaceful afternoon stroll. We visited on a Sunday and almost had the town to ourselves. Of course most of the shops and cafes were closed but it didn't hinder our exploration of the town.

The view from the wall of the surrounding countryside was lovely. High on the hill  overlooking the tiled roofs of the houses and out across the valley you could see for miles. 

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