On 19 March 2016 in Pienza, a splendid Tuscan town, there will be the presentation of the program of initiatives and a conference to raise awareness of "Saving beauty" at a time when too many Unesco sites are experiencing a tragic moment.
The prestigious recognition indicated the Tuscan city as a "place of high universal value", thus enhancing the fact that Pienza represents the first application of the Renaissance humanistic conception of urban planning. And that here the project of the "ideal city" took shape, which played a significant role in subsequent urban developments in Italy and beyond.
According to UNESCO, it is the application of that principle of the "ideal city" that has made Pienza, and in particular the group of buildings around the central square, a masterpiece of human creative genius.
All this in a territory, the Val D'Orcia, itself – according to Unesco – exceptional testimony of the way in which the landscape of the Renaissance was rewritten to represent the ideals of good governance and to create an aesthetically pleasing picture.
Pienza, throughout 2016, is proposing initiatives aimed at commemorating the 20 years of the important Unesco recognition.
Starting from Saturday 19 March, when the Celebrations will formally kick off in the "Ideal City", in the presence of many of the representatives of the 51 Italian UNESCO sites. Overall, 163 sites are listed as “World Heritage Sites” in the 1031 countries of the world: 802 cultural, 197 natural and 32 mixed.
During the day, to which Minister Dario Franceschini was also invited, the extensive Pienza 2016 Program will be presented.
With the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Fabrizio Fè, Mayor of Pienza, he also invited the Minister of Foreign Affairs, President of the Tuscany Region, the President of the Italian UNESCO Commission, the President of the UNESCO Italian Heritage Association, as well as the Mayors of the Municipalities UNESCO sites of the Tuscany.
During the works, which will be held in Palazzo Pretorio, the architect Pio Baldi, Superintendent of Cultural Heritage of the province of Siena in 1996, will retrace the salient moments that characterized the path of the Historic Center of Pienza towards UNESCO recognition.
The opening speech of the Day was entrusted to Professor Claudio Strinati who will focus on the theme of the Ideal City.
Claudio Margottini (ISPRA – Italian Geological Service and UNESCO expert), Giorgio Croci and Pietro Laureano, experts in the conservation of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, will speak on the theme of the protection of UNESCO sites. These experts will bring their experiences to countries that have experienced the destruction of their treasures and cultural roots and that today are laboriously trying to mend wounds and lacerations that cannot be healed.
On this occasion the works created for the Ventennale Celebrations by Piero Sbarluzzi and Agnese Mammana artists from Pientini will be presented.
