Piazza del Campo in Siena. (Photo by miez!)
Siena is a city in hilltown clothing.
Spinning out from the sunny central Piazza del Campo, Siena's Gothic brick palazzi and marble Baroque church facades are splayed along three ridges crested by a trio of car-free boulevards: bustling shopping drag Via Banchi di Sopra, touristy Via di Città, and quiet Via Banchi di Sotto.
Tucked along its steep side-streets are a magnificent zebra-striped cathedral, buildings filled with medeival frescoes, cool and shadowy churches, and a cityscape virtually unchanged since the late Middle Ages.
This is thanks, sadly, to the fact that the Black Death wiped out 60% of the Siena-area population in 1348 (in the city itself, the mortality rate was closer to 84%). That medieval suffering helped preserve much of the city in its 14th century state, as Siena never quite recovered its former power, glory, and riches—and therefore never underwent Renaissance or baroque overhaulas did Florence and other neighbors and rivals.
Siena tourist information office
Piazza del Campo 56
tel. +39-0577-280-551
Terresiena.it
Also useful:
Museisenesi.org
Comune.siena.it
Sienaonline.it (private)
Sienafree.it (private)
Planning your time in Siena: Though you can see a few of its greatest hits in just half a day, Siena really deserves at least one good, full day.
In fact, Siena's riches of sights really make it hard to do in a single day, so you're better off spending the night here—that way, you can squeeze in some sightseeing on the first afternoon, and some more on the second morning.
Couple that fact with Siena's central location in Tuscany, and it makes a lot of sense for Siena to be one of the overnight stops on your tour of Tuscan hilltowns.
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This article was written by Reid Bramblett and was last updated in January 2013.
All information was accurate at the time.
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