Things to do
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Piazza del Campo
A shell-shaped square sloping to the town hall, divided into nine paved segments for the medieval Council of Nine. The Palio is run around its edge twice each summer on packed earth laid over the stone. Cafes line the upper curve and the shade moves across it through the day.
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Siena Cathedral
Banded black and white marble inside and out, over an inlaid marble floor of fifty-six panels that is uncovered only for a few weeks each year. The Piccolomini Library off the nave keeps its Pinturicchio frescoes at full colour.
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Palazzo Pubblico
The Gothic town hall on the Campo, holding Lorenzetti's Allegory of Good and Bad Government, painted in the 1330s and still the clearest political argument ever put on a wall. The civic museum ticket covers the frescoed rooms around it, and an hour is enough for both.
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Basilica di San Domenico
A large brick preaching church holding relics of Saint Catherine of Siena, including her head. The terrace beside it gives the standard view back to the cathedral. It stands above the Fontebranda spring, and the lane down from it to the fountain is steep in both directions.
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Santa Maria della Scala
A medieval pilgrim hospital opposite the cathedral, in use for a thousand years and now a museum on several underground levels. The frescoed Pellegrinaio ward shows the hospital at work. It runs deeper than the entrance suggests and is rarely busy, even in August when the square outside is full.
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Torre del Mangia
The town hall's bell tower, built to the exact height of the cathedral so that church and state stood level. Four hundred steps, no lift, and numbers at the top are capped. The climb is narrow and there is no way past on the stairs.
