The Cathedral of Siena

The Cathedral of Siena is a overwelming monument that houses works of art from the Middle Ages to the contemporary period.

Consecrated, according to tradition, in 1179, the cathedral is characterized by a magnificent polychrome marble façade, built in several stages, next to which we find the so-called ‘new cathedral’, the unfinished project for the fourteenth extensions of which some vestiges remain.

The interior, divided into one nave and two aisles, shows an outstanding floor decorated in marble, with more than fifty subjects derived from the Old Testament, New Testament, symbols and allegories, built between 1300 and 1500.

Among the chapels, the most noteworthy are the chapel of the Vow, a baroque masterpiece by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the chapel of the Baptist, which houses the bronze statue of St. John the Baptist by Donatello, the Piccolomini Chapel, with sculptures by Michelangelo, and above all the extraordinary Piccolomini library, the ‘Sistine chapel’ of Siena, with frescoes by Pinturicchio and probably his pupil Raphael.

Come and visit the cathedral with an art historian, a guide that can explain to you history and anecdotes of the construction of one of the most important monuments of the Italian Art.