Siena is likely Italy’s loveliest medieval city, and a trip worth making even if you are in Tuscany for just a few days. Siena’s heart is its central piazza known as Il Campo, known worldwide for the famous Palio run here, a horse race run around the piazza two times every summer. Movie audiences worldwide can see Siena and the Palio in the James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace.
Siena is said to have been founded by Senius, son of Remus, one of the two legendary founders of Rome thus Siena’s emblem is the she-wolf who suckled Remus and Romulus – you’ll find many statues throughout the city. The city sits over three hills with its heart the huge piazza del Campo, where the Roman forum used to be. Rebuilt during the rule of the Council of Nine, a quasi-democratic group from 1287 to 1355, the nine sections of the fan-like brick pavement of the piazza represent the council and symbolizes the Madonna’s cloak which shelters Siena.
The Campo is dominated by the red Palazzo Pubblico and its tower, Torre del Mangia. Along with the Duomo of Siena, the Palazzo Pubblico was also built during the same period of rule by the Council of Nine. The civic palace, built between 1297 and 1310, still houses the city’s municipal offices much like Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Its internal courtyard has entrances to the Torre del Mangia and to the Civic Museum. If you feel energetic, a climb up the over 500 steps will reward you with a wonderful view of Siena and its surroundings. The Museum, on the other hand, offers some of the greatest of Sienese paintings. The Sala del Concistoro houses one of Domenico Beccafumi’s best works, ceiling frescoes of allegories on the virtues of Siena’s medieval government. But it is the Sala del Mappamondo and the Sale della Pace that hold the palaces’s highlights: Simone Martini’s huge Maestà and Equestrian Portrait of Guidoriccio da Fogliano and Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s Allegories of Good and Bad Government, once considered the most important cycle of secular paintings of the Middle Ages.
PIAZZA DEL CAMPO
Piazza del Campo is truly unique with its shell shape, its bricks pavement and for all of the buildings facing on it. Standing at the center of the square, you can almost feel wrapped up in a warm embrace. Piazza del Campo hosts, twice a year (on July 2nd and August 16th), the famous Palio di Siena, the most anticipated, exciting event by all of the citizens in Siena.
In the square, you can admire the Fonte Gaia, the largest fountain of the city originally decorated with sculptures by Jacopo della Quercia. The fountain as we can see today is a copy made in marble of Carrara marble, which is much stronger than the marble of the Montagnola used by della Quercia (the ancient Fonte Gaia ha been restored and is visible within the museum complex of Santa Maria della Scala).
Among the buildings overlooking Piazza del Campo, you will see and should visit the Palazzo Comunale (or Palazzo Pubblico, which is the city’s Town Hall) and the Torre del Mangia.
CLIMB TO THE TOP OF THE TORRE DEL MANGIA
The Torre del Mangia, with its height of 87 meters, offers one of the most beautiful views of the city. The climb can be a bit tiring: there are over 400 steps, a bit steep and narrow, to climb but the 360° view that awaits you on the top of the tower is really spectacular and worth the “effort” you go through to reach the top.
For those who want to visit both the Civic Museum and the Torre del Mangia, I recommend to buy the combined ticket (available only at the ticket office of the Tower), which costs € 13. If you have the time, the frescoes of “Good and Bad” Government within the Civic Museum are extraordinary!
PIAZZA DEL DUOMO
From here, our tour of Siena continues on to the precious Piazza del Duomo. While it is one stop, it is full of treasures that will take you the rest of the day to explore. Here you will enjoy some of the most magnificent treasures of Siena which I recommend you visit inside: the Cathedral, the Crypt and the Piccolomini Library.
THE BAPTISTERY
The Baptistery is dedicated to San Giovanni (St. John) and was built in 1300 when it was decided to enlarge the Duomo. The Baptistery, with entry from Piazza San Giovanni, is easily recognizable for its incomplete marble facade. The interior of the Baptistery is beautifully decorated with a cycle of frescoes by some Sienese artists of the Renaissance. The most precious masterpiece preserved inside the Baptistery is without a doubt the beautiful baptismal font created by some of the greatest sculptors of the Renaissance: Jacopo della Quercia, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Donatello.
THE OPERA DEL DUOMO MUSEUM
The Museo dell’Opera del Duomo is one of the oldest private museums in Italy and is located in the south side of the Cathedral, in an area that should have been an extension of the church on the basis of the project of the “New Cathedral”, which was never completed.
Here, you can admire the original statues from the facade of the Cathedral, including those made by Giovanni Pisano, the window of the apse by Duccio da Buoninsegna and one of the greatest masterpieces of the early Fourteenth century by Buoninsegna: the altarpiece of the Majesty.
From the very top, you will get a great view of the cathedral and the rest of Siena!
SANTA MARIA DELLA SCALA
The complex of Santa Maria della Scala is one of the oldest hospitals in Europe, where pilgrims were welcomed (Siena is along the ancient Via Francigena pilgrimage route which connected Rome to central Europe) as well as the poor and abandoned children.
The complex is located right in front of the Duomo, so is very easy to reach and visit.
Santa Maria della Scala still has some parts under restoration, but still remains open to the public, and houses a vast artistic heritage as well as temporary exhibitions.
