Things to do
6-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.