Montepulciano - Cathedral

On the south side of the Piazza Grande stands the cathedral, built on the site of the earlier parish church, at the time when the Bishop of Chiusi was driven by the increasing marshiness of the Chiana Valley to transfer his episcopal seat to Montepulciano. The present building, designed by Ippolito Scalza, was erected between 1592 and 1630. The campanile is a relic of the earlier church. The rough stonework of the facade shows that it was left unfinished. There are three doorways. Inside, to the left of the main doorway, is the recumbent figure of Bartolomeo Aragazzi, Secretary to Pope Martin V (1417-31). His tomb, in the style of the Early Renaissance, was the work of Michelozzo di Bartolommeo, but was later taken to pieces; other fragments can be seen elsewhere in the cathedral. Behind the high altar is a triptych of the Assumption by Taddeo di Bártolo (1401).