Skip to main content

SECRET SIGHTS IN SIENA: HIDDEN FRESCOES AT PALAZZO PUBBLICO AND CO.

San Pietro Alessandrino holding the city of Siena in Sano di Pietro's fresco
Fresco by Sano di Pietro in one of Palazzo Pubblico's six secret rooms
STANZE SEGRETE / SECRET ROOMS at PALAZZO PUBBLICO, piazza del Campo

 Upcoming dates: March 22/23, 2014; May 21/22, 2014

If you've been to Siena countless times, you may think you know it all. But you don't. Because you couldn't. Not even I - the famous writer of an arty-farty blog about Siena - have seen all of the Renaissance frescoes at Siena's civic museum yet. 

 For a reason. Palazzo Pubblico in piazza del Campo may be one of Siena's main sights (think famous frescoes by Ambrogio Lorenzetti and Simone Martini), but many of its beautifully adorned rooms are normally off-limits to the general public. Unless you happen to be in town for one of the guided visits which take place only a couple of times a year and grant you access to the hidden rooms with frescoes by Sienese masters like Sano di Pietro, Lippo Memmi and Il Sodoma. 

 Guided visits at: 10:30 - 11:30 -  12:30 -  16:00 -  17:00 -  18:00
Tickets: € 11,00. Kids up to 11 years € 3,00 (the ticket gives you also access to the rest of the museum). For reservations and more info: +39 0577 286300; sienastanzesegrete@operalaboratori.com

Tours are in Italian only. However, just walk along. In most cases the guides know English and are happy to answer a couple of your questions. And without guide there is no secret room. 
LITTLE KNOWN CHURCHES IN SIENA - GIORNATA FAI

 Saturday and Sunday March 22/23, 2014

Every spring the Fondo Italiano Ambiente organizes visits to a multitude of historic and artistic sites in Italy which are often closed to the public. This year's event will open up the doors of several churches in the Valdimontone and Nicchio neighborhoods (two of Siena's biggest contrade), which are adorned with the frescoes of Ventura Salimbeni and Francesco Vanni, two Sienese painters of the late 16th century.

A contribute of 5 € payable at the Oratorio della Santissima Trinità in via Valdimontone will grant you access to the following churches: 

  • Oratorio della Compagnia della Santissima Trinità, via Valdimontone
  • Chiesa di S. Maria degli angeli, called il Santuccio, via Roma, 90
  • Chiesa di San Raimondo al Refugio, via Refugio
  • Chiesa di S. Giacinto (Butini Bourke), via dei Pispini, 162/164
  • Chiesa di S. Spirito, piazza Santo Spirito
  • Oratorio della Chiesa di S. Gaetano da Thiene, via dei Pispini/via Oliviera

 For exact opening times check out the events in Tuscany page on the FAI website (scroll all the way down to provincia di Siena). 

San Gaetano da Thiene church in the Nicchio neighborhood
San Gaetano da Thiene church: oratory of the Nicchio contrada in via dei Pispini

Not here on these weekends?
Another must see for Siena and Tuscany routiniers is the Gate to Heaven tour (available in English, German and other languages) which takes you under the roof and on top of Siena's cathedral. 

Labels:
Location: Pubblico Palace, Piazza del Campo, 1, 53100 Siena, Italy

Popular posts from this blog

BEST BIKE RENTAL IN SIENA

Villa Catignano: one of the many beautiful places an e-bike can get you to from Siena A few years ago, I interviewed an American writer , who during her month-long stay in Siena whizzed through the city on a bicycle. This was an unusual sight - vespas are the two-wheelers of choice in Siena's hilly town center, not bikes like in mostly flat Florence.  But the invention of e-bikes is about to change this. The city of Siena has installed an  electric bike sharing program which is functioning well. However, it's mostly aimed at locals and residents, as its set-up is a little complicated for visitors who only stay a couple of days in town. Hence, for tourists, the best bike rental options in Siena are with the privately owned shops which supply bycicles of every size and type for a day or two or an entire week.  Giulia from Julskitchen.com cycling through the hills of Siena Siena Bike Shop rents out racing bycicles, hybrid and e-bikes and is a great optio...
Read on...»

Ambrogio Lorenzetti's frescoes and paintings

From toddlers to octogenarians, when in Siena I schlepp everybody to see Ambrogio Lorenzetti's 'Buon Governo'. The long title of the painting is 'The Allegory of Good and Bad Government in the City and the Countryside' and it is exactly that - namely an accurate depiction of daily life in medieval Siena. The detailed and elegant fresco cycle is a rarity not just in regard to Lorenzetti's style and technique, but mainly due to its subject matter. In the 14th century, paintings and frescoes focus on stories and characters from the old and new testament and  not on the day-to-day tasks of builders and farmers.  Medieval Siena depicted on one of the walls of Ambrogio Lorenzetti's fresco cycle in the Palazzo Pubblico (©Wikipedia) And this is exactly why it's so much fun to spend some time in front of the fresco cycle in the  civic museum in Siena's Palazzo Pubblico. Whether its kids  - or meat lovers - looking for the famous Cinta Senese pig  ...
Read on...»

NINA ZILLI CONCERT IN PIAZZA DEL CAMPO

Whatever the exact financial situation of the city of Siena and its famous nearly broke bank - the fact that free concerts are back on Piazza del Campo is a promising sign! In the summer of 2012 ,   Patti Smith  sang 'People have the Power' on Piazza del Campo. The song and her fabulous concert in Siena feature in the book soundtrack - and hopefully also in the future film adaptation - of my memoir  Across the Big Blue Sea .  But while a spectacular full moon rose behind Torre del Mangia the night of Patti's concert, the city itself had just started its descent into a longlasting financial nightmare. The Monte dei Paschi bank -  founded in  1472 it is the world's oldest continually operating bank -  turned from  prodigy into Italy's problem child (more about this here ), and with the bank's debacle, the free concerts on Piazza del Campo had lost their main sponsor.  Nina may not be a world-star, but she's definitely one of th...
Read on...»