Overview
A Rival to Florence, Preserved in Amber
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Siena and Florence spent most of the 13th and 14th centuries trying to destroy each other. Siena was, for a period, richer, more powerful, and artistically ahead. Its banking families were the most important in Europe before the Medici. Its painters — Duccio, Simone Martini, the Lorenzetti brothers — created a tradition of Gothic refinement and emotional intensity that rivalled anything being done in Florence.
Then the Black Death arrived in 1348 and killed more than half the population. Siena never fully recovered — and that, paradoxically, is why it's so beautiful today. Too weakened to modernise aggressively, the medieval city was preserved almost intact. The Gothic palaces, the shell-shaped Campo, the striped marble Duomo — all survived because Siena lacked the money to tear them down and rebuild.
Piazza del Campo
The Greatest Medieval Piazza in Europe
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The Campo is not just the centre of Siena — it's the whole point of Siena. The shell-shaped piazza, divided into nine segments of herringbone brick representing the nine-member medieval government, slopes gently from the surrounding palaces down to the Palazzo Pubblico at the base. In July and August, this is where the Palio — the extraordinary bareback horse race between Siena's 17 contrade (city districts) — takes place. Three laps around the Campo at suicidal speed in 90 seconds.
Fonte Gaia: The fountain at the top of the Campo (the original 15th-century panels by Jacopo della Quercia are in the Museo Civico; what you see is a 19th-century copy). Torre del Mangia: The 102m bell tower of the Palazzo Pubblico — climb it for the best panoramic view of the Campo and the surrounding Sienese countryside (288 steps, ~€10).
The Duomo
One of Italy's Greatest Gothic Cathedrals
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The Siena Duomo is the visual counterpart to Florence's Duomo — striped black and white marble inside and out, begun in the 11th century, expanded and embellished through the 14th. The green and white horizontal stripes covering walls, columns, and floor give the interior a hypnotic rhythm unlike any other Italian church.
Ten frescoes depicting the life of Pope Pius II (born Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, a Sienese). The colours are extraordinary — Pinturicchio used expensive lapis lazuli extensively and they have barely faded in 500 years. The scenes show the Renaissance world at its most confident: ships, cities, ceremonial processions. Separate €2 ticket inside the Duomo — worth every cent.
The Piccolomini Library
Inside the Cathedral, left nave. A small room entirely covered in frescoes by Pinturicchio (1502–1509) depicting the life of Pope Pius II (born Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, a Sienese). The colours are extraordinary — Pinturicchio used expensive lapis lazuli extensively, and they have barely faded. The scenes show the Renaissance world at its most confident: learned men, beautiful women, horses and landscapes rendered with exquisite detail. A separate €2 ticket, worth every cent.
The Marble Floor
The entire floor of the Duomo is a series of inlaid marble narrative panels — 56 of them, begun in the 14th century and worked on over 200 years. In April, most sections are covered with wooden boards to protect them, but several important panels near the main altar are usually visible. The Massacre of the Innocents by Matteo di Giovanni (1481) is one of the most dramatically composed.
- Nicola Pisano's hexagonal pulpit (1266): The first great Gothic sculptural ensemble in Italy — narrative reliefs showing the life of Christ with Roman-influenced figure style
- Duccio's Maestà: The original altarpiece (now in the Museo dell'Opera behind the Duomo) — the most important painting of pre-Renaissance Sienese art
- The Crypt: Discovered in 1999, covered in 13th-century frescoes that predate Giotto
Practical Details