Buonconvento

Buonconvento
Comune
Comune di Buonconvento
The castle of Bibbiano in the comune of Buonconvento. The castle of Bibbiano in the comune of Buonconvento.
Coat of arms
Buonconvento Location of Buonconvento in Italy
Coordinates:
Country	Italy
Region	Tuscany
Province / Metropolitan city	Siena (SI)
Frazioni	Bibbiano, Percenna, Villa Chiatina
Government
• Mayor	Marco Mariotti
Area
• Total	64.8 km2 (25.0 sq mi)
Elevation	147 m (482 ft)
Population (31 December 2010)
• Total	3,197
• Density	49/km2 (130/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Buonconventini
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	53022
Dialing code	0577
Patron saint	Sts. Peter and Paul
Saint day	June 29
Website	Official website

Buonconvento is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Siena in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 70 kilometres (43 mi) south of Florence and about 25 kilometres (16 mi) southeast of Siena in the area known as the Crete Senesi.

History

Buonconvento (from the Latina bonus conventus, "happy place") is mentioned for the first time in 1100. In 1313 the German emperor Henry VII died here.

It was surrounded by a line of walls starting from 1371, carried on by the Republic of Siena to which it belonged until 1559, when it became part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It was annexed to Italy in 1861.

Main sights

The local museum of art houses works by Duccio di Buoninsegna, Pietro Lorenzetti, Andrea di Bartolo, Matteo di Giovanni and other Tuscan painters, taken from local churches. The church of Sts. Peter and Paul has a Madonna Enthroned with Child by Matteo di Giovanni (c. 1450) and a fresco of the early-15th century Sienese school. The fortified pieve of Sant'Innocenza a Piana dates from the 13th-14th centuries. Most of Buonconvento's frazioni house medieval or Renaissance castles.

The church of St. Lawrence, in Bibbiano, has a cyborium by Ventura Salimbeni.

External links

• Official website (Italian)
• Tuscany - Map It Out! a day well spent in Buonconvento