Runners Will Follow a Historical Parade Through Pienza for a Race Named After Pope Pius the Second
The nine kilometre course recalls games of 1462, when the pope watched horse contests and foot races from his new palace.
Pienza, in the Tuscan province of Siena, will stage the Corsa di Pio on 20 September 2026, a 9.1km road race run through and around the Renaissance town after a costumed historical procession.
The adult race starts at 16:30 on a course that climbs away from the town walls and returns through the medieval gate. A youth race follows at 16:40 and a children's race at 16:55, and prizes are presented at 18:00.
The day opens at 11:30 with performances and Renaissance food stalls in the main square, music from 12:00, the historical procession at 15:00 and a recreational walk at 16:15. An acrobatic theatre show closes the programme at 18:30.
The event recalls September 1462, when the newly consecrated city held inaugural celebrations. Accounts of the day describe horse contests, donkey races and foot races for adults and children, watched by Pope Pius II from his palace on the square.
Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini in the village then called Corsignano, had the town rebuilt to a Renaissance plan and renamed after himself, and the centre is now a protected site. Organisers describe the weekend as a mix of memory, culture, spectacle and sport, and say it is meant to involve residents as much as visitors.