Siena

Unesco World Heritage

The cradle of the Middle Ages. Siena, located in the heart of Tuscany and surrounded by hills, is one of the most beautiful medieval cities in Italy. The heart of the city is the famous Piazza del Campo, with its particular shell shape, where the famous Palio is held, one of the most important events for all the Sienese. The Palio di Siena is a passionate horse race that takes place every year, in July and August and its origins seem to date back to the seventeenth century.

Unmissable Piazza del Campo, the Torre del Mangia, the Duomo

The Campo is dominated by the red Palazzo Pubblico and by its tower, called Torre del Mangia.

The Public Palace, as well as the  Siena Cathedral , was built during the Government of the Nine, which was Siena's period of maximum economic and cultural splendor. The Palace still houses the offices of the Municipality today. From the internal courtyard of the Palace you can access the Civic Museum and the Torre del Mangia, to the top of which, climbing the 500 steps, you can enjoy a splendid view of the city.

Some of the most beautiful paintings of the Sienese school are preserved in the Civic Museum . The Consistory Hall offers one of the most beautiful works by Domenico Beccafumi, who frescoed the ceilings by painting the Cycle of public virtues. In the Hall of the Globe and in the Hall of Peace (or Hall of the Nine) there are some true masterpieces: the large Maestà and the equestrian portrait of Guidoriccio da Fogliano at the siege of Montemassi di Simone Martini e the Allegories of Good and Bad Government di Ambrogio Lorenzetti, considered one of the greatest pictorial cycles of the Middle Ages.