The city of Montepulciano has a past tied in part to two important regional cross roads (From Chiusi to Arezzo running south to north, and from the Valdorcia to the Valdichiana and to Trasimeno running east to west) and its strategic position at the border of the area of influence of various powerful, medieval based cities (Orvieto, Perugia, Siena, Florence).

This happened in the first centuries of the second millennium when its riches and power were considerably developed, to the point of the city becoming a desired prey and acquired for itself of an appreciable autonomy that can be clearly seen in its alliance with the leading cities around it which were in perennial conflict among themselves. 

Unfortunately its final entrance in the Florentine state, after 1511, although it developed an important style (which is reflected in the important public and private buildings realised after that date and the establishment of the diocese in 1561) it suffered a slow economic and social decline, and at one point in the 18th century the Granduke of Tuscany Pietro Leopoldo became concerned, and looked into ways to give back some life to the very prestigious centre that had started to decay. In the 19th century the drainage of the Valdichiana renewed the importance of the city and it became the administration centre of the area signalling an appreciable revitalization, however this did not last beyond the middle of the 20th century. A population loss in the valley due to immigration to the north of many farmers who were transformed into the workforce for factories, and the changing ways of cultivating the land, which has not been completely compensated for by a similar growth of the small and medium industrial businesses. The prestigious art and history of the city has again an appreciable fascination also at a international level, and by this it is hoped, that Montepulciano will be able to make itself known as a centre of cultural development.