Italy · IT

Cathedral of the Holy Savior

Perched at the highest point of Montalcino — a hilltop town celebrated for its Brunello wine and the sweeping Val d'Orcia landscape below — the Cathedral of the Holy Savior (Concattedrale di San Salvatore) is a striking Neo-Classical church that commands the town's upper ridge. Though its clean-lined facade with six Ionic columns dates to the early 19th century, the site has been Montalcino's spiritual heart since around the year 1000, and it was elevated to cathedral status by Pope Pius II in 1462. Inside, visitors find a luminous white-and-gold interior housing paintings by Francesco Vanni, 11th-century sculptural fragments from the original Romanesque parish church, a fine 1858 Agati organ, and a monumental high altar designed by the cathedral's own architect. Just outside, a 16th-century stone well harbors a surprising contemporary artwork by Jannis Kounellis.