Italy Guide
Tuscany
Siena
SIENA is the perfect antidote to Florence, a unified, modern city at ease with its medieval aspect, ambience and traditions – indeed, exultant about them. It's a place not easily read by outsiders, and to get anything meaningful from a visit you'll need to stay at least one night; too many visitors breeze through on a day-trip.
Self-contained behind its medieval walls, Siena's great attraction is its cityscape, a majestic Gothic ensemble that could be enjoyed without venturing into a single museum. The physical and spiritual heart of the city is the great scallop-shaped piazza Il Campo, loveliest of all Italian squares and scene of the thrilling Palio bareback horserace. Siena's Duomo and Palazzo Pubblico are two of the purest examples of Italian Gothic architecture, and the best of the city's paintings – collected in the Museo Civico and Pinacoteca Nazionale – are in the same tradition; the finest example of Sienese Gothic is Duccio's Maestà, on show in the outstanding Museo dell'Opera Metropolitana. More frescoes fill the halls of Santa Maria della Scala, the city's hospital for over 900 years and now its premier exhibition space.
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