Quartiere Pianello

About the Church of San Pietro    

In the dark years of the middle ages, when the known world was convulsed in war and bloodshed,  Montalcino had already existed on this hill for many centuries. The ancient name for the hill, derived from Latin and probably used by the Romans, was Mons Ilcinus. Set high above surrounding valleys with its back to the ill wind which arrived from the coast, its settlers were soon being referred to as ilcinus – oak tree people. This favourable position defended its citizens from dreaded malaria which cost the lives of many peasants who dwelt in the western valley, and also from its enemies who, from time to time were the Sienese, and at other times the Florentines. Both powers looked upon Mons Ilcinus as a strategically important possession for their expansionist ideas.

In an archival document by Ludwig the Pius dated 814 the Church of San Pietro in Greta is recorded. At that time Montalcino was known as Montalcino in Greta, hence the existence and construction of the Church of San Pietro is valuably identified.

In earlier centuries churches recorded, stored and maintained village archives, but a fire in the archives in 1444 destroyed a large part of the story of Montalcino. Parchments, letters and manuscripts went irredeemably up in flames, taking with them a great part of our remote history. Probably because of the fire we do not have a lot of information about the construction of the Church of San Pietro nor of the alterations and rebuilding in the centuries which followed, but we do have some evidence, and for the rest we must hypothesize.

The church became the headquarters of the pious and disciplined Companions of San Pietro at the end of the 13^th century. Whilst we don’t know a lot about the construction of the church, we do know a great deal about the Companions who had their seat at San Pietro for more than five hundred years. The fascinating story of the Companions you can read at “Companions of San Pietro”.

The high standard of construction work by the Companions is very evident and their work continued until 1785, the year of their suppression. Restructuring of the interior was completed in the late1700’s and we have documentation which tells us of work in progress early in the 1600’s.

The marble altar is possibly the most precious element in the whole church. Archives tell us it was constructed by the sculptors Francesco Costantini from Siena and Lorenzo Tozzi, probably from Montalcino, who worked on the altar between 1645 and 1648. The precious marble is onyx, which came from a small mine at Castelnuovo del Abate, the village on the hill above the Abbey of Sant’ Antimo 10 kilometres away.

The altar is of sober design in the early Baroque taste, rising vertically between two tall columns. As well as the prestige of the marbles and the elegant design, the altar is all the more precious because it has been there for so many centuries. Some say it is the most beautiful altar in Montalcino.

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