Displaced on a hill 564 metres. Above sea level, Montalcino still unaffected charm of its medieval old town.
Its territory, which is part of the Park of Val d'Orcia, is covered by crops vine, olive trees and forests in which trees and ilex whose term Latin (Ilex) is probably the name Montalcino, Ilcinus Msgr.
The first major communities presence in the territory is linked to the archaeological site of Poggio alla Civitella (on a hill at 3 km from Montalcino) with the remains of Etruscan and Hellenistic period archaic: Starting fourth century. BC The hill hosted a village and later a fortress with three circuits defensive, presumably abandoned during the third century. BC
The oldest document's mention Montalcino is dated 715 AD: signed by the King of the Lombards Liutprand, reports the contention between the Bishop of Siena and Arezzo for possession of certain montalcinesi Parishes. Another early document, dated 814, informs instead of land donation ilcinese party Louis the Pious all 'Abbey Sant'Antimo, wonderful building that today is 9 km from Montalcino. High degree of city and erected a diocese in 1462 by Pope Pius II Piccolomini, Montalcino Renaissance lived historic moments of great tension due to contention between Florence and Siena for hegemony on the ground. After making Siena to the Medici in 1555, the Sienese exiles, refugees in the mighty fortress fourteenth century, founded the Republic of Siena in Montalcino that governed until 1559, from that moment Montalcino suffer the vicissitudes of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
And across town you can admire many architectural works from medieval times, beginning with walls that still retain the old door and part of the towers, Palazzo Comunale (end of the thirteenth century), Loggiati Piazza del Popolo, in the Cathedral neoclassical style, the Sanctuary of the Madonna del Soccorso, the Church of Sant'Egidio (the Church of Siena), and beautiful fourteenth century church of Saint Augustine (frescos of the Sienese school of the fourteenth century.), and St. Francis, with the Convents appendages. The church frescoes sixteenth Vincenzo Tamagni, the same author of the frescoes of the study included in the complex of the Hospital of St. Mary of the Cross, founded in the thirteenth century. Today seat of the Municipality.
Overall the Convent of Saint Augustine today finds place in the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art, reopened in 1997. This is one of the most important museums in the province of Siena and offers a comprehensive overview of the artistic center of this Tuscan.
   

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