Day 01
Civic Museum and Palazzo Pubblico Discovery
- Discover the Palazzo Pubblico of Siena in the company of an expert local guide. It has been the seat of the city government since 1317 and still serves today as the town hall. Your guide will begin by introducing the beautiful and unique Piazza del Campo, divided into nine segments. Notice the building's facade, decorated with the typical Sienese arches, before heading inside.
- The first room is dedicated to the first king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II. It is entirely frescoed by 19th-century purist artists such as Luigi Mussini and Amos Cassioli, who depicted scenes from the king's life.
- The tour continues in the "Sala della Balia", where you will find frescoes by Spinello Aretino representing scenes related to the life of the Sienese Pope Alexander III and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.
- The "Sala del Concistoro", where weddings are celebrated today, is a wonderful room whose ceiling was entirely frescoed by the Sienese artist Domenico Beccafumi in the 16th century.
- You will then move to the "Sala del Mappamondo" (Globe Hall), named after a fresco by Duccio di Buoninsegna, no longer preserved, which once depicted a world globe. Here, you can admire the wonderful "Majesty" ("Maestà") by Simone Martini, dating from 1315. It is particularly remarkable to find the Virgin represented in a public rather than sacred context.
- End the visit in the most famous room of the palace, the "Sala della Pace o dei Nove" (Peace Hall or Hall of the Nine), where you will see Ambrogio Lorenzetti's fresco cycle, "The Allegory and the Effects of Good and Bad Government", from 1338-1339. The purpose of these frescoes was to remind citizens and rulers that achieving good government - one without war, with a strong economy, and with hardworking inhabitants devoted to crafts, commerce, and construction - requires the pursuit of virtues rather than vices.
