The University of Siena is one of the oldest universities in Italy, with its main seat in the former monastery of San Vigilio on Banchi di Sotto, a stone's throw from Piazza del Campo: behind the façade lies a cloister that breathes eight hundred...
Piazza Salimbeni looks like a medieval square, with three old palaces closing it off like a drawing room. In fact it is a 19th-century project: the stage for the Neo-Gothic Palazzo Salimbeni, seat of the Monte dei Paschi, and for the bank's...
Porta Camollia is Siena's north gate, at the end of Via di Camollia, in the territory of the Istrice contrada. For centuries it was the most heavily defended of all, because it was the entrance for anyone arriving from Florence, the city's...
Palazzo Tolomei is the medieval palace that closes off the square of the same name, along Banchi di Sopra, one of Siena's main streets. It was the home of a family of bankers and is the oldest surviving private residence in the city.
What...
The Basilica of Santa Maria in Provenzano is the shrine of the Madonna of Provenzano, in Siena, and its name is tied to the Palio: every July 2 the race is run in her honor. Built after the Council of Trent, it is a Mannerist church, with a large...
Porta Romana is the most imposing Sienese gateway. It was completed in 1330 to replace the old Porta S. Martino. The gateway, with its great wall, is decorated above the corbels with two stone she-wolves, attributed to Giovanni di Stefano. Below...
Fortification built in 1270 to provide additional protection on the northern fringe of the city.
Inside there are rare traces of painted decoration that had been lying on several occasions over the centuries.
The Assumption of the Virgin,...
The church of the Santissima Annunziata is the church hidden inside the old hospital of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, right across from the Duomo: it has no façade and shows only its brick side to the square. Inside, a single, very tall nave...
San Marco Gate in Siena is located at the end of Via San Marco. The former oratory of San Marco was situated at the beginning of the street bearing the same name. The gate, also known as the Maremma Gate, was opened in the city walls in 1326 and...
The Fonte Nuova is a historic water basin in Siena, located in Via Pian d'Ovile.
The fountain dates back to the 14th century and was built according to a design by Camaino di Crescentino and Sozzo di Rustichino. It is characterized by a double...
The Tufi Gate of Siena is located on the Strada dei Tufi. Built in 1325-1326 as part of the last city walls, it is attributed to Agnolo di Ventura. Constructed of brick, it features a Guelph-style crenellated crown resting on cantilevered arches...
The first news concerning this fountain is found within a petition from 1352 in which the citizens of the Third of the City request the General Council to construct it. The citizens assumed the expenses for the construction and simultaneously...