Siena Cathedral

Siena Cathedral was in the middle of an expansion that would have made it the largest Gothic church in the world when the Black Death killed half the city in 1348 and stopped everything

The unfinished nave of that expansion still stands as an open-air shell on the north side of the existing building – three walls and no roof, never completed, now called the Facciatone. You can climb it and look down over the Piazza del Campo and the city. The contrast between the ambition the truncated walls represent and what was actually finished is one of the more specific historical perspectives available in Tuscany.

What was completed is one of the most densely decorated church interiors in Italy. The building was begun in 1215, expanded in the 13th and 14th centuries, and represents two hundred years of accumulated artistic ambition. The alternating black and white marble striping on the columns and walls comes from the traditional colours of Siena, taken from the city’s coat of arms. Every available surface carries something: mosaic, fresco, carved relief, gilded coffering. The effect is overwhelming without being oppressive.

The Floor

The pavement of the nave is covered with 56 intarsia marble panels depicting biblical scenes and allegories, completed between 1372 and 1562. This is the cathedral’s most specific marvel and the one that requires planning: the panels are covered with protective boards for most of the year. For roughly ten weeks in autumn – the specific dates vary annually but typically fall in September and October – the full floor is uncovered. Check operaduomo.siena.it for the current year’s dates before booking your visit.

Inside

The Piccolomini Library off the north nave, built in 1495 to house the books of Pope Pius II, has Pinturicchio frescoes covering all four walls in colours that are still as bright as they were when painted in the 1500s. Visit early when you can stand in the narrow space without being jostled.

The four Michelangelo statues at the Piccolomini Altar – Peter, Paul, Pius, and Gregory, carved 1501-1504 – are technically equal to his more famous works and significantly less viewed. They are the reason to look up from the floor.

The pulpit by Nicola Pisano, completed in 1268, is considered the first major work of Italian Gothic sculpture. Hexagonal, supported on columns, with relief panels depicting the Nativity, the Adoration of the Magi, and the Last Judgement. The figures are anatomically advanced for 1265 and show direct influence from Roman sarcophagi Pisano had studied.

The crypt beneath the cathedral was discovered during restoration work in 1999 – sealed and forgotten for centuries, its 1270s-1280s frescoes preserved in near-original condition. The OPA Si Pass (around EUR 15-20) covers the cathedral, crypt, library, museum, and the Facciatone climb.

The Campo and the Palio

The Piazza del Campo is an extraordinary piece of civic engineering: a semicircular bowl tilted toward the Palazzo Pubblico, paved in brick in nine sections representing the Nine Governors of medieval Siena, designed to drain rainwater toward the centre. The Torre del Mangia on the Palazzo Pubblico is climbable at 87 metres for around EUR 10 – worth it on a clear day.

The Palio di Siena – the bareback horse race run on 2 July and 16 August – is the Campo’s primary purpose in the Sienese imagination. The race itself takes 90 seconds. The ceremony and procession run two hours before it. The inner ring of the track is free standing space, packed, hot in summer, and essentially impossible to see from. Paid seats around the perimeter cost EUR 200-400 and require booking months ahead. Attending once is worth the effort.

Eating and Staying

Osteria Le Logge on Via del Porrione is the most consistently recommended restaurant in the historic centre – wild boar pappardelle, pici all’aglione (thick handrolled pasta with garlic tomato sauce). Reserve ahead. Caffè Nannini on Banchi di Sopra has been doing ricciarelli (soft almond biscuits) and panforte since the 1890s. Buses from Florence take 1.5 hours, usually faster than the train. Hotel Alma Domus, run by Dominican nuns, offers clean rooms at EUR 60-90 per night with a curfew at 23:00. Pensione Palazzo Ravizza in a 17th-century palazzo runs EUR 100-160.