Montepulciano rises along the hilly hogback between the Valdichiana and the Val d'Orcia. The city is constructed along a ridge, which varies in level of between 50-60 metres and is reflected along the 1½ kilometres of main central street, that starts at the Porta al Prato and goes up to the Piazza Grande: the houses are arranged along the main street and in a series of short and narrow streets, often steep and more or less perpendicular. Almost all the buildings of major importance appear along the main street and constitute a long series of façades almost like an exhibition of high level design.
The splendid Piazza Grande, must be seen: the Duomo with its uncompleted façade and the Town Hall, surrounded by Renaissance palazzos. The valley below is an unforgettable view with the outstanding and elegant mass of the Tempio di S. Biagio.
Side by side with a still highly important agricultural economy, based on the cultivation of the well known Vino Nobile from Montepulciano, today there is a notable tourism industry of which one of the main elements is Montepulciano Spa in the locality of S. Albino where the curative properties of mud and waters are exploited.