Entrance to Siena Cathedral
Il Duomo e la libreria Piccolomini meritano sempre una visita. Peccato per la pessima abitudine ormai acquisita da anni nel settore del turismo di far pagare l'ingresso alle chiese, che sono opere d'arte che dovrebbero essere accessibili gratuitamente.
Secure your skip-the-lines tickets to Siena Cathedral, a stunning 13th-century Roman-Gothic building. Book online to avoid the queues and gain valuable time dedicated to discovering this impressive cathedral. This ticket gives you access to the cathedral when its magnificent floor is revealed to the public, which only happens at certain times of the year, as well as giving you the opportunity to visit the Piccolomini Library.
Although Siena Cathedral is filled to the brim with exceptional findings and refined works of art, one of its most interesting and valuable treasures is the flooring. Giorgio Vasari, the famous Italian artist and architect, declared that it is "the most beautiful… great and magnificent… floor that has ever been made". Designed and built between the 14th and 18th centuries, it's composed of 56 panels made by famous local artists. The painters' designs were brought back into the marble flooring thanks to marble inlays and graffiti techniques that required a very high degree of precision and considerable economic investment. For this reason, in order to protect this wonderful work of art from wear and tear, the floor is only uncovered during a specific time of the year.
Located within the cathedral complex, the Piccolomini Library was commissioned by the patron Cardinal Francesco Tedeschini Piccolomini and frescoed by the Umbrian artist known as Pinturicchio, or Bernardino di Betto. The painter and his collaborators worked hard between 1503 and 1508 to complete the precious frescoes that adorn the walls of the library. One of the walls is entirely occupied by large windows while the remaining three are decorated with frescoes depicting the life of Enea Silvio Piccolomini.
