Siena Pictures
Guide
Piazza del Campo (aka Il Campo), Siena, Italy.
Siena is of course best known for its thrilling and dangerous bareback horse races in July and August, Il Palio, that skid around Piazza del Campo, the city's beautiful scallop-shaped market square. But Siena has a lot more to it than historically nutty nag thrashing.
Enclosed by an ancient wall, Siena is Europe's best preserved medieval town, containing many outstanding works of art and architecture.
The entire town is in warm terracotta bricks, with a laid-back atmosphere and pedestrian friendly streets that make it a delight to walk around, though motorbikes and small public vehicle can be aggressive sharers.
Il Duomo (Cathedral) of Siena
Siena's prime tourist attractions are
- The café lined Campo with the Tuscan gothic Palazzo Pubblico/Torre del Mangia/Museo Civico.
- The town hall/Mangia tower/civic museum, the home of marvellous frescoes including Guidoriccio da Fogliano and Maestà by Simone Martini, and the 'Buongoverno fresco' - the first known artwork with a landscape as subject - by Ambrogio Lorenzetti.
- The Duomo; in Romanesque-Gothic style the cathedral has a superb inlaid marble floor (revealed for only a few weeks in August), and an awesome pulpit carved by Nicola Pisano.
The Duomo's Libreria Piccolomini is also magnificent, with vivid frescoes and gorgeously illustrated books.
- Outside Siena Cathedral on Piazza del Duomo, there is Museo dell'Opera Metropolitana (Duomo Museum) showing 'Maestà' by Duccio di Buoninsegna, the famous Sienese artist.
- Pinacoteca (National Picture Gallery), is home to 'Madonna of the Franciscans' by Duccio di Buoninsegna.
Siena is situated in the heart of Tuscany, 70 km south Florence, and 230 km north of Rome.
If you like Siena, also try Lucca, home to Puccini, 17 km north of Pisa, another enchanting, seriously walled medieval town and a lot less visited.
Siena's greatest festival: Il Palio pictures
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