Itinerary

1. Civic Museum: A jewel of Art in the Palazzo Pubblico

   • Discover in the company of an expert local guide, the Palazzo Pubblico of Siena, which has been the city government's seat since 1317 and still today the seat of the city hall. Initially, the guide will tell you about the beautiful and unique Piazza del Campo, divided into nine segments. Pay attention to the building's facade decorated with the typical Sienese arches, and then go inside.
   • The first room is dedicated to the first king of Italy, Victor Emmanuel II, entirely frescoed by 19th-century purist artists such as Luigi Mussini and Amos Cassioli who depicted the scenes the king’s life. 
   • The tour will continue in the “Sala della Balia”, where you will find frescoes of Spinello Aretino representing scenes related to the life of the Sienese Pope Alexander III and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.
   • The "Sala del Concistoro" is where weddings are celebrated today, a wonderful place 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 that is no longer preserved by Duccio di Buoninsegna which depicted a world globe. Here, you can admire the wonderful “Majesty” ("Maestà") by Simone Martini of 1315; very particular to find the Virgin represented in public and not sacred context.
   • End the visit in the most famous room of the Palace, called “Sala della Pace o dei Nove” (Peace Hall or Hall of the Nine), where there is the fresco cycle by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, called “ The Allegory and the Effects of  Good and Bad Government” from the year 1338-1339. The frescoes' purpose was to remind the citizens and rulers that to obtain a good government, therefore a government without war, with a good economy, with hardworking inhabitants dedicated to crafts, commerce and construction, it is necessary to pursue virtues and not vices.