{"id":1642,"date":"2016-02-01T23:05:44","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T22:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cortonamia.com\/newsite\/en\/?page_id=1642"},"modified":"2026-08-02T23:40:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T21:40:45","slug":"guide-siena","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.cortonamia.com\/en\/guide-siena\/","title":{"rendered":"Guide Siena"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FULL GUIDE TO SIENA<\/span><\/h1>\n

A complete guide of the town of Siena, we will cross with you the main tourist destinations as churches, monasteries, squares and museums and learn about the great \u201cSenesi\u201d masters.<\/span><\/p>\n

The route<\/strong><\/p>\n

Patches of classic Tuscan countryside mingle with less salubrious light industry and road-spoilt valleys on this route. At the end of the line, Siena\u2019s a more appealing town than Florence, more mellow and more medieval than its Renaissance neighbour. The pace of life is slower, the crowds less frenetic, making it a lovely place to spend at least a couple of days. The past is also more firmly part of the present, a feeling best expressed by the Palio, Siena\u2019s famous horse race. Horses, jockeys and the town\u2019s
contrade compete against one another twice a year in Italian\u2019s most dynamic festa. Contrade are the city\u2019s seventeen medieval divisions, each with its flag and animal motif (emblazoned all over on streets and buildings), its own sense of neighbourhood identity, and even its own church, social centre and museum. (The Palio\u2019s held twice yearly on July 2 and August 16.)
Trains
Trains to Siena usually leave from platform 1 at Florence station. They\u2019re often crowded, though much of the jam loosens at Empoli where most people get off There are 14 through services daily (63 km, 1 hr 40 min) and an additional 5 services if you change trains at Empoli. Three expresses daily run from Florence direct to Siena, continuing to Grosseto on the west coast (for connections on the Rome\u2014Pisa main line). Remember there are also connections to Siena from Chiusi on the Rome\u2014Florence line.
Siena
Tradition has Siena founded by Remus, brother of Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome, a tall story recollected in the city\u2019s many statues of the two brothers being suckled by the she-wolf. The city probably dates from around the birth of Christ, but only entered the reckoning in the 13th century, when its banks, wool industry, trade routes and quasi-democratic commune made it one of Europe\u2019s most important cities. Rivalry with Florence continued throughout the period, power swinging first one way \u2013 when Florence catapulted excrement and dead donkeys over the walls to induce a fatal plague in 1254 \u2013 and then the other, most notably in the period after Siena\u2019s victory at the Battle of Montaperti in 1260. Although power gradually tilted towards Florence, Siena still prospered, and from 1287 to 1355 under the rule of the so-called Council of Nine enjoyed a building boom and artistic flowering that saw its artists at the cutting edge of Italian art.
The plague of 1348 turned the tide decisively, wiping out around 70,000 of the city\u2019s 100,000 population. Political chicanery over 2 centuries saw Siena\u2019s virtual surrender to Florence, culminating in its absorption into the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in 1554. Florence then deliberately kept the city down, its decline into a rural backwater being one of the reasons for its survival as the medieval town you see today.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\"siena-guide-piazza-del-campo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Piazza del campo<\/strong><\/p>\n

Siena\u2019s curving amphitheatre of a piazza, the Campo \u2014 literally \u2018the field\u2019 \u2014 is probably Italy\u2019s greatest square. Shaped like a vast half shell, it\u2019s long been the centre of civic life, being used as a racetrack for the Palio-, a soapbox for San Bernardino (the town\u2019s premier saint); as an arena for bullfights, boxing matches and public executions; and as a focus for all the town\u2019s wandering and social
intercourse. Construction began in 1347, centring on the old marketplace, the point at which the city\u2019s contrade converged (and therefore a neutral spot in a fiercely competitive city). The Council of Nine divided the square into nine segments, aiming to be as even-handed as possible. Even the paving stones were in nine-piece sections (or so it\u2019s claimed \u2013 you can actually count eleven).
The square\u2019s most dominant feature is the Palazzo Pubblico, which closes its lowest edge (see below), flanked by a huge sceptre-like tower, the Torre del Mangia. The idea was to build a tower on behalf of the city which no noble or clergyman could start to challenge. Two Perugian architects were commissioned \u2014 men from a city that at the time bristled with towers \u2014 and came up with the second tallest structure built in medieval Italy (Cremona\u2019s Torrazzo claims first place). Its name supposedly comes from the glutton (mangia) who served as the tower\u2019s first watchman-cum-bellringer. The entrance is off to the left of the palace\u2019s internal courtyard (daily 10 am-7 pm; closes 1 hr earlier Nov-May).
In front of the palazzo stands the small Cappella di Piazza a modest stone loggia commissioned in 1348 to celebrate the end of a plague which claimed half the city\u2019s population. It took around a hundred years to build, hence the marked transition of styles between its upper and lower levels. At the Campo\u2019s highest point the Fonte Gaia adds a Renaissance dash to the medieval arena, a piece designed by Siena\u2019s own Jacopo della Quercia. The panels are reproductions, the eroded originals now sitting in the rear loggia of the Palazzo Pubblico.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"maesta-di-simone-martini-siena\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Palazzo Pubblico<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hustle past Siena\u2019s citizens on council business in the Palazzo Pubblico \u2013 which is still the city\u2019s town hall \u2014 and be sure to see the Museo Civico, an excellent museum and art gallery which meanders through several of the palace\u2019s public apartments (Mon\u2014Sat 9.30 am-6.45 pm, Sun 9.30-12.45 pm; Nov-Mar Mon-Sun 9.30 am-12.45 pm).
Its early rooms are little more than a prelude to the famous Sala del Mappamondo (Room 10) \u2014 though en route make time to see the frescoes of Taddeo di Bartolo and Jacopo della Quercia\u2019s wrought-iron screen in the Cappella del Consiglio. Named after a damaged series of astrological frescoes, the Mappamondo is renowned for two majestic works of art; the first, Simone Martini\u2019s Maest\u00e0 (1315), one of the great Italian paintings; the second, his now disputed Portrait of Guidoriccio da Fogliano (1328) a wonderful courtly image of the condottiere on horseback.
Equally famous frescoes wait in the next rom, the Sala dei Nove; Ambrogio Lorenzetti\u2019s Allegories of Good and Bad Government, and don\u2019t miss the handful of other fine paintings in the adjoining Sala della Pace.<\/p>\n

\"Siena-guide-Cathedral-Interior\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Duomo<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not many cathedrals match the exuberance of decoration on Siena\u2019s duomo, banded in black and white marble and loaded with sculptures, tracery and mosaics added over several centuries. Much of the lower facade is the work of Giovanni Pisano and pupils, though most of what\u2019s on show are copies. The originals reside in the Museo dell\u2019Opera (see below).
More or less completed by 1215, the building nonetheless sprouted many half-finished additions over the years. The largest stands round the corner to the right (as you face the facade). The stone shell here formed part of a scheme to enlarge the church \u2013 the idea was to rival Florence\u2019s cathedral by building a completely new nave. Under the plan the original (and present) nave was to have been a transept, producing what would have been Italy\u2019s largest church outside Rome. Money and enthusiasm dried up following the plague of 1348.
The interior is tinged with a dusky light that illuminates a decorative riot to rival that of the facade. Some of the best work lies in the pavement, covered in 56 marble panels, each a self-contained episode designed by forty artists between 1349 and 1547. Many are kept covered for protection, though enough are revealed to suggest the overall effect and variety of themes. Perhaps the interior\u2019s most eye-catching effect, however, is the dozens of sculpted heads atop the pillars of the nave (each represents a pope). The best single work of art is the pulpit, carved around 1265 by Nicola Pisano and Arnolfo di Cambio, and there is more fine sculpture, chiefly the Piccolomini altar half way up the left aisle. Donatello has a bronze pavement in the north transept (The Tomb of Bishop Pecci, 1426) and a statue of John the Baptist in the left of the two circular transept chapels.
Midway down the left hand side of the church is the entrance to the Libreria Piccolomini, famous for its decorative frescoes by Pinturicchio, a leading Umbrian painter (daily 9 am\u20147 pm, winter 10 am\u20141 pm and 3\u20145 pm). The cycle was commissioned by Pope Pius III (who reigned for just 10 days) to commemorate his uncle, Aeneas Piccolomini, Pius II, one of the Renaissance\u2019s larger than life figures (he was a poet, philosopher, religious reformer, diplomat, geographer, town planner and so on).<\/p>\n

\"siena-guide-Museum-dell\u2019Opera-del-Duomo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Museo dell\u2019Opera del Duomo<\/strong><\/p>\n

The cathedral museum, the Museo dell\u2019Opera is more than an afterthought to the duomo itself: the art on show here ranks alongside the best in the city Walk right as you face the cathedral facade and left into Piazza del Duomo and the museum is straight ahead, under the arches in a corner of the duomo\u2019s unfinished extension (daily 9 am-7.30 pm; off season 9 am-1 pm). The lower floor houses Pisano\u2019s facade sculptures, some of the foremost carving of the period in Italy. Upstairs is a spread of excellent works by Simone Martini, Sano di Pietro and Pietro Lorenzetti, all overshadowed by one of the greatest of all Sienese paintings, Duccio\u2019s Maest\u00e0 (1311). Beyond the museum, off Via Monna Agnese and behind the cathedral, be sure to drop down the steps to see the duomo\u2019s often-over-looked Baptistery (daily 9 am\u20141 pm and 3\u20146 pm). Behind an unfinished Gothic facade its centrepiece is an early Renaissance font (1417\u201430), decorated with bronze panels including contributions from Lorenzo Ghiberti (The Baptism of Christ and John the Baptist Imprisoned), Donatello (Herod\u2019s Feast) and Jacopo della Quercia (The Angel Announcing the Birth of John the Baptist).<\/p>\n

\"siena-guide-pinacoteca-nazionale\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Pinacoteca Nazionale<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Pinacoteca Nazionale provides a thorough grounding in the art of Siena, its hundreds of works running the gamut of all the city\u2019s leading (and lesser)\u00a0 painters including Duccio, Simone Martini, Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti and Taddeo di Bartolo, (daily 8.30am-2 pm, Sun 8.30 am-1 pm).
The rooms follow a chronological order, and you should be looking out in particular for the early pieces by Guido da Siena (Room 2), perhaps the first purely Sienese painter, whose Byzantine-tinged works and broad gilt backgrounds were to be a staple of those who followed. Duccio (1260\u20141319) in rooms 3 and 4, is in the Sienese top tier, together with Simone Martini (a Madonna in Room 6 stands out), and the brothers Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti (in rooms 7 and 8). Midperiod high points come with Bartolo di Fredi (1353-1410) and his pupil Taddeo di Bartolo (1362-1422), who you may see again if you take a trip out to San Gimignano (Rooms 9 to 11). Further down the line, the paintings display the influences of mainstream Italian art \u2014 which is to say Florentine art \u2013 noticeable in the portraiture naturalism and perspectival experimentation of painters like Sas-setta. There\u2019s a throwback to the old style, however, in Giovanni di Paolo, Sano di Pietro and Matteo di Giovanni, painters who appeared during the Siena school\u2019s dotage (Rooms 12-16).<\/p>\n

The churches<\/strong><\/p>\n

San Domenico<\/strong> should be the first church on your list, primarily for Sodoma\u2019s eye-opening frescoes on the life and ecstasy of St Catherine. They\u2019re in a chapel on the church\u2019s south side, together with a reliquary containing her head. Look out, also, for her portrait by Andrea Vanni, a contemporary and friend (on the church\u2019s right-hand side as you enter). Elsewhere the highlights are frescoes by Pietro Lorenzetti (fourth chapel on the right) and lesser painters like Matteo di Giovanni (first chapel on the right) and Sano di Pietro (first chapel of the left transept).
San Francesco<\/strong> is a gloomy, cavernous spot, but has a couple of Lorenzetti frescoes (first and third chapels of the north transept). In the piazza alongside \u2013 the Oratorio di San Bernardino (ring bell at number 22 for entrance) are more frescoes by Sodoma. Santa Maria delle Nevi<\/strong> (Via di Camollia) has a celebrated altarpiece by Matteo di Giovanni (1477).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"iawp_total_views":2,"footnotes":""},"wf_page_folders":[],"class_list":["post-1642","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nGuide online of Siena - CortonaMia Portal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A complete guide online about Siena, what to visit in one day in Town.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cortonamia.com\/en\/guide-siena\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Guide online of Siena - 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