In Siena the architecture soars and lifts your soul. This is Italy before the Renaissance, magically transported to the modern day. With its narrow streets and steep alleys, a Gothic Duomo, a bounty of early Renaissance art, and the glorious Palazzo Pubblico overlooking its magnificent Campo, Siena is often described as Italy's best-preserved medieval city. Originally a Roman colony founded by Augustus over 2,000 years ago called Saena Julia, Sienese myth suggests that Siena was founded by Senius and Aschius, two sons of Remus and thus nephews of Romulus, after whom Rome was named. Supposedly after their father's murder by Romulus, they fled Rome, taking with them the statue of the she-wolf suckling the infants, thus appropriating that symbol for the town. In the 1300s, Siena was one of Europe's largest cities and a major military force, in a class with Florence, Venice, and Genoa, but weakened by a disastrous plague and conquered by her Florentine rivals, Siena became a backwater for six centuries.
However, Siena's loss became our sightseeing gain, because its political and economic irrelevance preserved its Gothic-era identity, most notably its great, gorgeous central piazza — the Campo — one of the most remarkable squares in Italy, is divided into seventeen wards into which the town is divided and still manages to play an active part in the life of the city, culminating in the famous Palio horserace which has survived as perhaps the most spectacular annual festival in Italy — and the Duomo sitting atop Siena's highest point and visible for miles around, the its bold white and dark-green stripes. Inside and out, it's lavished with statues and mosaics, which are “the most beautiful…, largest and most magnificent, ever made” is how Giorgio Vasari described the floor of Siena Cathedral, that were created between the 14th and the 19th centuries.
The Piccolomini Library, a jewel of Italian Renaissance, is a monumental Renaissance library inside the Siena Duomo, noted for its fresco cycle by Pinturicchio. Commissioned in 1492 by Cardinal Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini, archbishop of Siena, to honour his uncle Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, later Pope Pius II, the room was painted between 1503 and 1508 with ten narrative scenes in a richly ornamented Library. They celebrate the life and work of Pius II and his pontificate, with a wealth of atmospheric landscapes and real and imaginary costumes, sophisticated ceremonies and figures painted in a rich palette. Glass cases display illuminated choirbooks in the The Piccolomini Library, and the centerpiece is a Roman marble group of the Three Graces, while the frescoes include a figure long identified as a young Raphael.
Following a morning exploring the Duomo and awe inspiring Piccolomini Library, we walked to La Grotta di Santa Caterina da Bagoga, a traditional Tuscan restaurant with vaulted ceilings and Tuscan stone walls, established in 1973 by Pierino Fagnani, known as Bagoga, a former Palio jockey, known by his nickname "Bagoga. The restaurant interior is deeply tied to the city's famous Palio horse race, decorated with authentic race memorabilia, photos, and historical artifacts from the event. With a menu that reflects the rich culinary heritage of the region and a wine list that boasts selections from the Montalcino area, we began our Sienese lunch with a glass or two of Prosecco followed by a luscious Tortino di Formaggio al Tartufo and Tonno del Chianti su Crema di Ceci, followed by Pappardelle al Ragu di Cinghiale and Pici al Ragu Bianco di Cinta Senese enjoyed with a glass of Fagnani Rosso di Montalcino 2024, which was founded by the restaurant's own Pierino Fagnani and managed with Francesco Fagnani and winemaker Gianni Bernazzi. Delizioso dall'inizio alla fine.
principal architectural landmarks in the heart of Siena
The marble-faced Gothic Cappella di Piazza portico is the entrance to the Museo Civico
The café in the Campo where we stopped for a cappuccino and Torta della Nonna
and was built circa 1346–1347
Lineup for tickets for the Duomo and Baptistry,
A Sienese Pigeon having a drink in the fountain
so we smartly purchased tickets online and walked into the Duomo
Detail of Duomo facade sculptures
Detail of one of the mosaics made in Venice and added to the facade in 1878
symbolize Siena, and is set inside a circle surrounded by roundels representing central Italian cities
The interior of the Duomo with fencing around vulnerable pavement mosaics
Sculpted by Andrea Bregno between 1481 and 1485, the Piccolomini Altar
made of deeply carved white Carrara marble holds four sculptures carved by a young Michelangelo
a 13th-century late-Byzantine style painting attributed to Dietisalvi di Speme
View through the Duomo to the Coronation of Pope Pius III by Pinturicchio
The upper lunette of the beautifully carved marble wall is a vibrant fresco painting titled The Coronation of Pope Pius III, by the Renaissance master Pinturicchio between 1502 and 1508
The Piccolomini Library which is set off by a richly carved, monumental Renaissance marble entrance frame commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini, later Pope Pius III
The glorious ceiling is also painted by Pintoricchio, one of my new favourite artists
The glittering vault of the Piccolomini Library decorated in the “grotesque” style contains a series
of allegorical figures, pastoral scenes, bacchanalia and mythological escapades
displayed in glass cases and wooden cabinets that date primarily from 1466 to 1478
These large-format manuscript choirbooks contain the musical notation and liturgical texts
used for daily church services and monastic choir singing
and illuminators active between 1466 and 1478
Frederick III Crowning Enea Silvio Piccolomini with a Laurel Wreath
Pope Pius II Arrives in Ancona
Sculpture of the Three Graces in the centre of the Piccolomini Library is an ancient Roman copy of a Hellenistic original, dating from the 4th-2nd century BC
The dome is a hexagonal Gothic masterpiece completed around 1263,
predating Brunelleschi's famous dome in Florence by nearly 150 years
The interior dome is a hexagonal vault featuring a deep blue ceiling
studded with golden stars to represent the celestial heavens
The marble high altar of the presbytery was built in 1532 by Baldassarre Peruzzi
The historic bronze lectern made for the choir and presbytery
used for reading holy texts during services
The historic choir stalls are famous for their intricate Renaissance intarsia (wood-marquetry) panels
Embedded into the backs of the stalls are 38 incredibly detailed wood-inlay panels created by the renowned Renaissance monk and master woodcarver Fra Giovanni da Verona between 1456 and 1525
The structural body of the choir stalls dates back to 1363–1397,
consisting of beautifully carved, dark wooden seating architecture
gilded lantern designed by the Baroque master Gian Lorenzo Bernini
The heads of 172 popes peer down on all those who enter the Duomo
These freestanding bronze figures bring "divine light" to the most sacred part of the cathedral
The cathedral's spectacular historic organ has been renovated and restored
multiple times over the centuries
Departing the Duomo on our way to the restaurant we booked for lunch
Classic Sienese Panaforte from Antica Drogheria Manganelli
Pierino Fagnani, known as Bagoga, the chef and patron of La Grotta di Santa Caterina da Bagoga
La Grotta di Santa Caterina da Bagoga was wonderful
decorated with authentic race memorabilia, photos, and historical artifacts from the event
A vase of dried local flowers
We ordered a bottle of Incanti Vino Spumante Brut,
a delicious sparkling wine from Piemonte in Northern Italy
A glass of the Incanti Spumante Brut
Tonno del Chianti su crema di ceci
Fagnani Rosso di Montalcino 2024, founded by Pierino Fagnani and managed
with Francesco Fagnani and winemaker Gianni Bernazzi
