This is one of the most famous piazzas in the world, noted for the descending half-moon form which goes from its upper side to its lower side. Twice a year the famous Palio of Siena takes place here. It is dominated on its lower, or western side, by the Palazzo Pubblico (Town Hall), a brilliant example of Tuscan Gothic architecture built between the end of the 1200Õs and the beginning of the 1300Õs in stone and terracotta. It was enlarged with the construction of the Salon of the Grand Council and the prisons.
The imposing faade is composed of a central building flanked by two lower central buildings. Within the Palace is the Civic Museum, where one finds admirable works of art. The heart of the museum and of the Palace itself is without a doubt the Mappamondo (world map) Room, which is also the headquarters of the Council. Some excellent frescoes by Simone Martini are conserved here, including works by Guidoriccio da Fogliano ("The Maest") and Sodoma. In the next room, called the Peace Room, one can admire the celebrated cycle of allegorical frescoes by Lorenzetti, which explain the effects of good government and bad government on the city and its countryside. Next to the Mappamondo Room is the "Anticappella" (chapel annex), containing the frescoes of Taddeo di Dartolo, and the Chapel which houses a splendid wooden chorus by Domenico di Niccolo. In the Loggia of the Nine ("Nove") are the original low reliefs of the Gaia Fountain, the work of Jacopo della Quercia. On the left side of the Palace is the Mangia Tower, 90 meters high. Its construction was directed by Minuccio and Francesco di Rinaldo, in 1325. At its base is the Chapel of the Piazza, built between the 1300Õs and the 1400Õs. At the upper end of the piazza is the "Campanaria" (bell tower) Cell, built entirely out of stone. From the top of the tower one can enjoy a matchless view of the city and its surroundings. On the higher side of the piazza, above the Palace, one finds the Gaia Fountain, a rectangular basin built in 1419 by Jacopo della Quercia. It owes its name to the happiness with which the Sienese welcomed the arrival of water in the Piazza del Campo.

Leaving the Piazza del Campo and traveling along the Banchi di Sopra Road, the urban section of the Via Francigena, one arrives at Piazza Salimbeni, made in the 19^th century by Giuseppe Partini. In the center is the monument to Sallustio Bandini, also from the 19^th century. Along the left side of the piazza is the Tantucci Palace, from the 1500Õs. On the right is the Spannocchi Palace, from the Renaissance. Its façade was completed only in the 19^th century. The lower part of the piazza contains the Gothic Salimbeni Palace, from the 1300Õs. This is the headquarters of the Monte di Paschi Bank. To the left rises the Tower of the Rock.

Traveling along the Via del Porrione, Via S. Martino and Via dei Servi, we arrive at the Basilica of S. Maria dei Servi, from the 13^th century. Before going inside, having walked up the stairs to the entrance, we can admire a beautiful panorama of the city. Although the façade of the church is rough, the interior is in Renaissance and Gothic style. Among the works conserved in the church that one should see are The Madonna with Child by Coppo di Marcoveldo, The Murder of the Innocents by Lorenzetti, and The Madonna of the People by Memmi.

This church is located just beyond the stadium, at the beginning of the park that encloses the Medici Fortress of S. Barbara. In Gothic style, it was designed and enlarged between 1226 and 1465. It was restored in 1531, after a fire, by Domenico Cinquini. The interior, a single nave in the shape of an Egyptian cross, reflects the imposing and simple exterior. In the Chapel of S. Catarina, on the right wall, we can see frescoes by Sodoma and wall paintings in oils by Francesco Vanni. In the vaulted chapel just to the right of the entrance is the portrait of Santa Catarina by Andrea Vanni. On the altar, in the tabernacle made in the 1400Õs by De Stefano, is a reliquary of S. Catherine. On the fourth altar to the left, there is a fresco by Lorenzetti. Outside, to the left of the façade, is the cloister of San Domenico, from 1452. On its left is the bell tower of 1340, disassembled in the 18^th century because it was too dangerous.

Descending from S. Domenico, we come to the Sanctuary of Saint Catherine, patron saint of Italy. Designed in 1464, and modeled after her home, this contains many works of art. In the upper oratory we find paintings illustrating the life of the saint by Fungai, Del Riccio, Tomarancio, Vanetti and Francesco Vanni. In the Oratory over the Crucifix are paintings by Manetti and Del Conca, while the frescoes are by Masini. In the oratory of her chamber we find seven histories of the saint painted by Franchi in 1896 and The Stigmata of the Saint by Ghirolamo Benvenuto. Descending from the oratory of the "contrada" (section of town) we find other interesting paintings, including some by Sodoma and by Ghirolamo Pacchia.

Passing the Branda Fountain, the most beautiful fountain in Siena, and entering the Via dei Pellegrini, which is shaded by the Palace of the Magnifico, we go up the stairway of the Sabatalli and enter Piazza del Duomo, crossing through the doorway made by Giovanni di Agostino. This, together with the nearby hill of Castelvecchio, is the original nucleus of the city. The ancient cathedral of Siena was here even before the 10^th century. It was destroyed to make room for the Duomo, which was begun at the beginning of the 13^th century. In 1339, when the church was not yet finished, work began to create an exceptional project, the building of a new Duomo, the greatest church of Christianity, which was to have included as its transept the Duomo already under construction. However, the project proved to be superior to the force of the Sienese (also because of the outbreak of the Black Plague), so it was abandoned in 1355. Testimony to this great failed undertaking is the façade that faces Piazza Jacopo della Quercia, and part of the nave.

Work on the original Duomo was once again taken up, and was finished at the end of the 1300Õs. The splendid façade in white marble is divided into two levels. The lower one, built by Giovanni Pisano, includes three entranceways with Gothic tympani above. It is embellished by numerous statues. The upper level is the work of Giovanni di Cecco. It includes a splendid rose window and three cusps covered by mosaics (the central one culminating in an angel). The Romanesque bell tower was erected at the end of the 13^th century.

The interior with three naves, in the shape of a Latin cross, is striking due to its polychrome walls. The pavement is sub-divided into fifty-six squares, painted by artists such as Pinturicchio and Beccafumi. The glasswork of the apse, done in 1288, is one of the oldest in Italy. Among the numerous works of art contained here, the most notable is The Votive Madonna by Guido da Siena (over the altar), the wooden choral bench by Fra Giovanni da Verona (in the apse) and the marble bergamot by Nicola Pisano in (in the left transept). Then there are the works of Pinturicchio, Donatello, and Neroccio in the Chapel of San Giovanni Battista, and the Piccolomini Library in the first span of the nave on the left, which is a collection of the library of Pius II.

The Cathedral Museum, to the left of the Duomo, contains works already belonging to the Duomo. The most important room of the building is the Duccio Room, so called for the Maest, created by Duccio di Buoninsegna, a work with two facades that were separated in 1771. Next to this we can see The Nativity of the Virgin by Pietro Lorenzetti. Also of note is the Treasury Room of the Cathedral and the room containing The Madonna with Big Eyes, where we find works by Lorenzetti, Sano di Pietro and Sassetta.

The hospital of Santa Maria della Scala and the ArchbishopÕs Palace are in the same piazza. The hospital, dating to the end of the 1200Õs, takes its name from the stairway of the Duomo. The Archaeological Museum is located here. The ArchbishopÕs Palace, a Gothic structure from the 1300Õs, is to the right of the Duomo.

Situated in the adjacent Piazza S. Giovanni, this baptistery, built in the 1300Õs, presents a Gothic façade in white marble, unfinished on the bottom. Within its three naves is the splendid baptismal font by Jacopo della Guercia, begun in 1417 and decorated with statues by Donatello and de Torino.

Continuing along Piazza dei Mantellini and Via Sarrocchi, we arrive at the Church of S. Agostino. It was built in the 13^th century and rebuilt in the 1700Õs according to the plans of Vanvitelli. Within are frescoes by Lorenzetti, Martini and Signorelli.

We conclude our itinerary by following the via S. Pietro to Buonsignori Palace. This Gothic palace from the 1400Õs houses The National Gallery. Here one can view the collection of Sienese artists from the 12^th to the 17^th centuries and works by Buoninsegna, Simone Martini and Ambrogio Lorenzetti.