Sights in Siena
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Duomo Nuovo
In 1339 the city's leaders launched a plan to enlarge the cathedral and create one of Italy's largest places of worship. Known as the Duomo Nuovo, the remains of this unrealised project are on Piazza Jacopo della Quercia, at the eastern side of the main cathedral. The daring plan, to build an immense new nave with the present cathedral becoming the transept, was scotched by the plague of 1348.
The cathedral's interior is truly stunning. Walls and pillars continue the black-and-white-stripe theme of the exterior, while the vaults are painted blue with gold stars. High along the walls of the nave is a long series of papal busts. After looking up, look down…and you'll see…
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Piazza del Campo
This sloping piazza, popularly known as Il Campo, has been Siena's civic and social centre since being staked out by the Consiglio dei Nove in the mid-12th century. It was built on the site of a former Roman marketplace, and its pie-piece paving design is divided into nine sectors to represent the number of members of the council. In 1346 water first bubbled forth from the Fonte Gaia (Happy Fountain) in the upper part of the square. These days, the fountain's panels are reproductions; the severely weathered originals, sculpted by Jacopo della Quercia in the early 15th century, are on display in the Complesso Museale Santa Maria della Scala.
At the lowest point of the…
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Libreria Piccolomini
Off the north aisle of the Duomo Nuovo, the Libreria Piccolomini is one of the cathedral's great treasures. Pope Pius III built this compact hall to house the books of his uncle, Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who became Pope Pius II; only a series of huge choral tomes remains on display.
The walls of the hall have vividly coloured narrative frescoes by Bernardino Pinturicchio. They depict events in the life of Piccolomini, starting from his early days as a secretary to an Italian bishop on a mission to Basle, through to his ordination as pope and eventually his death in Ancona while trying to mount a crusade against the Turks. In the centre of the hall is a group of statues…
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Palazzo Comunale
At the lowest point of the square (or the tap of the aforementioned metaphorical sink), stands the spare, elegant Palazzo Comunale, conceived by the Council of Nine as a nerve centre for the republican government, uniting the offices and courts in one building, thus greatly reducing the symbolic and actual power of the feudal nobles.
Dating from 1297, the palazzo is one of the most graceful Gothic buildings in Italy. The ground level was constructed in stone, the upper, crenulated levels in brick, with an ingeniously designed concave façade to mirror the opposing convex curve formed by the piazza. Also known as the Palazzo Pubblico, or town hall, the palazzo was…
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Museo Civico
The city's most impressive museum occupies rooms richly frescoed by artists of the Sienese school. These frescoes are unusual in that they were commissioned by the governing body of the city, rather than by the Church, and many depict secular subjects instead of the favoured religious themes of the time.
Upstairs, start in the Sala del Risorgimento with its impressive late-19th-century frescoes serialising key events in the campaign to unite Italy. Next is the Sala di Balia (or Sala dei Priori). The 15 scenes depicted in frescoes around the walls recount episodes in the life of Pope Alexander III (the Sienese Rolando Bandinelli), including his clashes with the Holy Roman…
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Duomo
Construction of the duomo started in 1215 and work continued well into the 14th century. The magnificent facade of white, green and red polychrome marble was designed by Giovanni Pisano (the statues of philosophers and prophets are copies; you'll find the originals in the Museo dell'Opera).
In 1339 the city's leaders planned to enlarge the cathedral and create one of Italy's biggest churches. Known as the Duomo Nuovo (New Cathedral), the remains of this project are on Piazza Jacopo della Quercia, on the eastern side of the cathedral. The daring plan, to build an immense new nave with the present church becoming the transept, was scotched by the plague of 1348.
The interior…
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Museo Archeologico
The Museo Archeologico is within Santa Maria della Scala. Most of the collection consists of pieces found near Siena, ranging from elaborate Etruscan alabaster funerary urns to gold Roman coins. In between you'll see some statuary, much of it Etruscan, a variety of household items, votive statuettes in bronze and even a pair of playing dice.
The collection is well presented, and the surroundings - twisting, arched tunnels - perfectly complement it and are a cool blessing on stifling-hot summer days.Admission to the museum is included in the price for Santa Maria della Scala.
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Palazzo Chigo-Saracini
The magnificent curving Gothic façade of the Palazzo Chigo-Saracini is in part a travesty, the result of 'restoration' in the 18th and 19th centuries to re-create the medieval feel. From the tower, which is the genuine article apart from its brick crenellations, they say a young boy with particularly good eyesight watched the Battle of Montaperti in 1260 and shouted down details of the home side's progress against the Florentines to eager crowds in the streets below.
(The palazzo is the headquarters of Accademia Musicale Chigiana).
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Chiesa di Sant'Agostino
The 13th-century Chiesa di Sant'Agostino, a few streets south of the Pinacoteca Nazionale, was originally designed by the Dutch Vanvitelli, chief architect to the King of Naples. Its richly rococo interior dates from the 18th century, after the church had been gutted by fire. The second altar on the south aisle has a superb Adoration of the Crucifix by Perugino while the Piccolomini chapel's jewel is Il Sodoma's Adoration of the Magi.
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Loggia dei Mercanzia
The 15th-century triple-arched balcony Loggia dei Mercanzia, where merchants used to plot deals, is worth a visit. From here, strike east along Banchi di Sotto to pass Palazzo Piccolomini, a Renaissance palazzo housing the city's archives. Further east are the 13th-century Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, with frescoes by Pietro Lorenzetti in a chapel off the north transept, and the 14th-century Porta Romana.
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Palazzo Tolomei
North of Loggia dei Mercanti on Banchi di Sopra, the 13th-century Palazzo Tolomei dominates Piazza Tolomei. Further north, Piazza Salimbeni is bounded by Palazzo Tantucci, Gothic Palazzo Salimbeni (prestigious head office of Monte dei Paschi di Siena bank), and the Renaissance Palazzo Spannocchi, from where 29 finely carved busts stare down at you from beneath the eaves.
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Crypt
Just north of Nuovo Duomo and down a flight of steps is the crypt, a room below the cathedral’s pulpit discovered in 1999. Its walls are completely covered with pintura a secco (‘dry painting’) dating back to the 1200s. There’s some 180 sq metres’ worth, depicting several biblical stories, including the Passion of Jesus and the Crucifixion.
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Battistero di San Giovanni
Behind the duomo and down a steep flight of steps is the Baptistry, which is richly decorated with frescoes. At its centre is a hexagonal marble font by Jacopo della Quercia decorated with bronze panels depicting the life of St John the Baptist by artists including Lorenzo Ghiberti (Baptism of Christ and St John in Prison) and Donatello (The Head of John the Baptist Being Presented to Herod).
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Complesso Museale Santa Maria della Scala
This former hospital, parts of which date to the 13th century, was built as a hospice for pilgrims travelling the Via Francigena but soon expanded its remit to shelter abandoned children and to care for the poor. Located directly opposite the duomo, it now functions as a cultural centre and houses three museums – the Archaeological Museum, Art Museum for Children and Center of Contemporary Art (SMS Contemporanea) – as well as a variety of historic halls, chapels and temporary exhibition spaces. Though the atmospheric Archaeological Museum housed in the basement tunnels is impressive, the complex's undoubted highlight is the upstairs Pellegrinaio (Pilgrim's Hall), with…
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Palazzo delle Papesse
Change eras with a visit to this contemporary art gallery if you've had your fill of medieval religious art. The gallery houses a number of permanent pieces from the likes of Micha Ullman, Perino Vele and Antonio Catelani, mixed in with ever-changing exhibitions. The rooftop terrace has stunning views.
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Fortezza Medicea
The Fortezza Medicea, also known as the Forte di Santa Barbara, is typical of those built in the early years of the grand duchy. The Sienese could not have been given a more obvious reminder of who was in charge than this huge Medici bastion, raised on the orders of Cosimo I de' Medici in 1560.
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Panorama del Facciatone
For a great panoramic view, haul yourself up the 131-step, narrow corkscrew stairway to the Panorama del Facciatone at the top of the facade of the putative Nuovo Duomo. A combined ticket for Museo Dell’opera Metropolitana and panorama costs €10 and is valid for three days.
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Fonte Gaia
In 1346 water first bubbled forth from the Fonte Gaia in the upper part of the square. The fountain's panels are reproductions; the severely weathered originals, sculpted by Jacopo della Quercia in the early 15th century, are on display in the Complesso Museale di Santa Maria della Scala.
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Pinacoteca Nazionale
Occupying the once grand but now sadly dishevelled 14th-century Palazzo Buonsignori, this labyrinthine gallery displays an incredible concentration of Gothic masterpieces from the Sienese school and also demonstrates the subsequent gulf cleaved between artistic life in Siena and Florence in the 15th century. While the Renaissance flourished 70km to the north, Siena's masters and their patrons remained firmly rooted in the Byzantine and Gothic precepts that had stood them in such good stead from the early 13th century. Stock religious images and episodes predominate, typically pasted lavishly with gold and generally lacking any of the advances in painting (eg perspective,…
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Casa Santuario di Santa Caterina
If you want more of Santa Caterina – figuratively speaking – visit this pilgrimage sight where the saint, her parents and 24 siblings lived (locals like to joke that her mother must have been a saint, too). The rooms in the house were converted into small chapels in the 15th century and are decorated with paintings by Sienese artists, including Il Sodoma. The lower-level bedroom, frescoed in 1893 by Alessandro Franchi, includes her untouched, nearly bare cell.
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Chiesa di San Francesco
Along Via dei Rossi, is Chiesa di San Francesco, with its vast single nave. It's suffered over the years - from a devastating 17th-century fire and use as army barracks.
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Museo dell’Opera Metropolitana
This museum, also known as Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, is in what would have been the southern aisle of the nave of the Nuovo Duomo.
Inside, formerly adorning the cathedral, are the 12 statues of prophets and philosophers by Giovanni Pisano that decorated the facade. The highlight is Duccio di Buoninsegna’s striking early 14th-century Maestà, which is painted on both sides as a screen for the cathedral’s high altar. The front and back have now been separated and the panels depicting the story of the Passion hang opposite the Maestà. Other artists represented are Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Simone Martini and Taddeo di Bartolo, and there’s also a rich collection of tapestries…
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Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi
The 13th-century Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi has frescoes by Pietro Lorenzetti in a chapel off the north transept.
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Oratorio di San Bernardino
Nestled in the shadow of the huge Gothic church of San Francesco is this 15th-century oratory, which is dedicated to St Bernardino and decorated with Mannerist frescoes by Il Sodoma, Beccafumi and Pacchia. Upstairs, the small Museo Diocesano di Arte Sacra has some lovely paintings, including a Madonna del Latte (Nursing Madonna, c 1340) by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. Note that admission to the oratory is included in the OPA SI Pass.
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Torre del Mangia
From Palazzo Comunale soars its graceful bell tower, the Torre del Mangia, 102m high, completed in 1297.
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