Siena Cathedral: Go Early, Stay Long

The Duomo di Siena is one of the most extravagant Gothic buildings in Italy, and unlike Rome or Florence, you can often have it nearly to yourself. Siena gets far fewer tourists than it deserves, which is good news for everyone who shows up. The cathedral sits at the top of the city’s main hill, visible from most of the Campo below.

Inside the Cathedral

The striped black-and-white marble is not decorative overlay. It goes right through the walls, carved from quarries in the hills south of the city. The marble floor alone is worth the entry fee: 56 inlaid panels installed over several centuries, each different, depicting Old Testament scenes, allegories, and heraldic devices. Most of the floor is covered with protective boards for most of the year; it’s fully revealed in late August and September for the marble floor season, which is the best time to visit.

The Piccolomini Library, off the left nave, requires a separate small fee (around €4) on top of the cathedral entry. It’s worth it. The walls are covered with frescoes by Pinturicchio depicting scenes from the life of Pope Pius II. The colours are extraordinary, almost unchanged.

Nicola Pisano’s pulpit (1268) is in the nave. It’s one of the key works in the transition from Romanesque to Gothic sculpture in Italy; art historians argue about it constantly and standing in front of it for twenty minutes makes you understand why.

Entry to the cathedral costs around €5-8 depending on season. The OPA SI pass (around €15) gives combined access to the cathedral, the Museo dell’Opera, the Baptistery, and the Oratorio di San Bernardino.

The Museo dell’Opera

Located in the would-be nave of the never-completed cathedral expansion, the museum holds Duccio di Buoninsegna’s Maesta altarpiece (1311), which used to sit above the high altar. It’s a massive Byzantine-influenced polyptych, and the original piece that anchors Sienese painting. The museum also has access to the “Facciatone,” the unfinished facade section you can climb for views across the city.

Campo and Palazzo Pubblico

The Piazza del Campo, a few minutes’ walk downhill, is the social centre of Siena. The Palazzo Pubblico at its base has the Museo Civico inside, which contains Simone Martini’s Maesta and Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s Allegory of Good and Bad Government, one of the most important secular frescoes of the 14th century. Entry is around €9.

Eating

Trattoria La Taverna di San Giuseppe in Via Giovanni Dupre is a long-standing Sienese institution serving ribollita, pappardelle al cinghiale, and good Brunello by the carafe. Plan around €30-35 per head. Lunch here is marginally cheaper than dinner.

For the cheaper option, the covered market in Piazza del Mercato (back of the Palazzo Pubblico, easy to miss) has good sandwiches and a proper local atmosphere.

Getting There

Siena has no train station with direct service from Florence; you go to Empoli and change, or take the SITA bus from Florence Santa Maria Novella (around 75 minutes, €8-10). The bus drops you in Piazza Gramsci at the north end of the centro storico. Most of the city centre is pedestrianised and requires walking regardless.