1996 marked a decisive turning point: The English Patient by Anthony Minghella, winner of nine Oscars. One of the film’s key locations was the Monastery of Sant’Anna in Camprena, while a particularly evocative scene was filmed in Piazza Pio II.
In 2000 Ridley Scott’s Gladiator starring Russell Crowe and winner of five Oscars, was released.
Throughout the year, but especially in the warmer months and at sunset, it is common to find long lines of cars parked along the SP 18 Monte Amiata provincial road, a few hundred metres from the centre of Pienza, near the farm of San Giuseppe, which is located at the entrance to the pedestrian path leading to the Parish Church of Corsignano. However, the traffic and crowds are not there because of the albeit magnificent sandstone church dedicated to Saints Vito and Modesto, dating back to the 12th/13th centuries, with its baptistery in which future Popes Pius II and his nephew Pius III were baptised.
Visitors head to that location, the hill that looks out from Corsignano towards the Podere Terrapile farm, to admire the setting where director Ridley Scott filmed a memorable scene from the film “Gladiator” (2000), starring Russell Crowe and winner of five Oscars. In the film, the valley, covered in wheat fields and dotted with cypress trees, is the location of the home of the Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius, who was forced to become a gladiator to regain his freedom.
The scene has a spectacular and emotional power that still captivates and engages anyone who sees it, “compelling” them to visit the site to verify whether that place really exists and has that evocative power: the answer is, invariably, “yes”.
With typically Tuscan wisdom and acumen, the people of Pienza say: “If it is the film Gladiator that brings visitors from all over the world to discover and admire the Parish Church of Corsignano, we have achieved a result”.