It’s beautiful, especially inside. All these small figures and tiny details in this magnificent building are so graceful and sublime. It’s touching when you step over the well-trodden threshold with the half moon tiles into the brightly coloured library room.
This cathedral, striped of dark and light marble with the Campanile visible from afar, was later to become the transept of a new cathedral and one of the largest churches in the world. In the middle of the 14th century, however, the ambitious plans were abandoned. Today the small version of the cathedral is considered one of the most important Italian examples of Gothic architecture – and if you take a closer look, you will discover elements of the Romanesque basilica on which it is built.
Famous is the octagonal pulpit with the realistic representation of simple people and their fears by Giovanni Pisano, the works of Donatello on the altars, the inlays in the choir stalls by Fra Giovanni da Verona and above all the inlays and engravings of biblical scenes, legends and legends in the marble floor. These almost turn the floor into a painting.
Especially from late autumn to early spring it is worth taking the time to let this interior have its effect.
Siena
7.30 am - 7.30 pm
winter 7.30 am - 1.00 pm and 2.30 pm - 5.00 pm
