Description
Piazza del Campo is Siena's main square, in the heart of the medieval city: a great shell of red brick sloping down toward the Palazzo Pubblico and the Torre del Mangia. It is where the Sienese meet and where, twice a year, the Palio is run.
Its shape is unique. The square is a semicircle with a circumference of 333 meters, its terracotta paving divided into nine wedges by white bands: the number perhaps recalls the Government of the Nine.
All the lines of the paving, of the slopes and of the houses lead to the Palazzo Pubblico, which closes the square at the bottom with its Torre del Mangia.
The houses around it are not there by chance. As early as 1262 the statutes required double and triple-arched windows and forbade terraces, and a church that jutted out too far from the perimeter was simply demolished. You enter through eleven openings, once twelve, hidden by the arches and the changes in level.
On the high side of the square stands the Fonte Gaia, the public fountain decorated by Jacopo della Quercia; at the foot of the tower, the Cappella di Piazza. The paving has two zones: the central basin, of bricks laid on edge, and the surrounding band, paved in stone.
As early as 1193 there is mention of two squares separated by a wall: on one side the Campo, on the other the Mercato, the square that today lies behind the Palazzo Pubblico. The first document about the Campo dates from 1169, when the commune bought the land.
At the beginning it was not even a square. It was land reclaimed so that rainwater could drain away, on the edge of the oldest part of the city, but right at a crossroads. So it became the place for markets, of livestock, poultry and grain.
Then the Government of the Nine decided to build its palace there, and from that moment the square was designed with it in mind. The paving of the basin was started in 1333; the fountain was inaugurated in 1346.
On July 2 and August 16 the Campo is covered with tuff for the Palio: seventeen contrade, three wild laps and dirty tricks, spectacular falls at bends like San Martino. By an ancient convention, the square and the Palazzo Pubblico belong to no contrada.
Don't miss
• The Palazzo Pubblico and the Torre del Mangia.
• The Fonte Gaia.
• The San Martino bend.
Did you know?
• The square sits on a crossroads: here the roads to Rome, to the sea and to Florence still meet.
• Baldassarre Peruzzi wanted to surround the square with porticoes, but the project was shelved.
Its shape is unique. The square is a semicircle with a circumference of 333 meters, its terracotta paving divided into nine wedges by white bands: the number perhaps recalls the Government of the Nine.
All the lines of the paving, of the slopes and of the houses lead to the Palazzo Pubblico, which closes the square at the bottom with its Torre del Mangia.
The houses around it are not there by chance. As early as 1262 the statutes required double and triple-arched windows and forbade terraces, and a church that jutted out too far from the perimeter was simply demolished. You enter through eleven openings, once twelve, hidden by the arches and the changes in level.
On the high side of the square stands the Fonte Gaia, the public fountain decorated by Jacopo della Quercia; at the foot of the tower, the Cappella di Piazza. The paving has two zones: the central basin, of bricks laid on edge, and the surrounding band, paved in stone.
As early as 1193 there is mention of two squares separated by a wall: on one side the Campo, on the other the Mercato, the square that today lies behind the Palazzo Pubblico. The first document about the Campo dates from 1169, when the commune bought the land.
At the beginning it was not even a square. It was land reclaimed so that rainwater could drain away, on the edge of the oldest part of the city, but right at a crossroads. So it became the place for markets, of livestock, poultry and grain.
Then the Government of the Nine decided to build its palace there, and from that moment the square was designed with it in mind. The paving of the basin was started in 1333; the fountain was inaugurated in 1346.
On July 2 and August 16 the Campo is covered with tuff for the Palio: seventeen contrade, three wild laps and dirty tricks, spectacular falls at bends like San Martino. By an ancient convention, the square and the Palazzo Pubblico belong to no contrada.
Don't miss
• The Palazzo Pubblico and the Torre del Mangia.
• The Fonte Gaia.
• The San Martino bend.
Did you know?
• The square sits on a crossroads: here the roads to Rome, to the sea and to Florence still meet.
• Baldassarre Peruzzi wanted to surround the square with porticoes, but the project was shelved.