Location: Siena
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What to do and see in Siena, Tuscany: The Best Art Museums
This Tuscan hill town will transport you back to the Middle Ages. Siena's grand cathedral, built in the 1200s, has treasured artworks and marvelous marble floors. The Piazza del Campo, the main town square, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's also home to the Palio, perhaps the most infamous horserace in the world. No goofy hats and mint juleps here—this is a medieval tradition involving bareback riders racing on cobblestones (so as you might imagine, it's quite dangerous). Siena is an easy daytrip by train from Florence, just 43 miles away.
Restaurants in Siena
1. Villa Brandi
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 8 reviews
2. Complesso Museale della Contrada della Tartuca
3. Museo dell'Opera Metropolitana
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 600 reviews
Occupying part of Il Duomo's extension, this museum houses Pisano's original statues from the building's façade and a fine array of panels, including works by Simone Martini, Pietro Lorenzetti and Sano di Pietro.
Reviewed By tinaNtravel - San Jose, United States
The museum was quite good. The first part contains an impressive large stain glass window. The museum is then divided into a number of different rooms. The museum contains paintings, statues, a relic (skull) of San Clemente Martire inside a beautiful gold enclosure, old books and more. You can also climb the stairs to the very top for some magnificent views. I also climbed the stairs in the Duomo and found the view from here to be better. To climb the stairs, you need to wait in the room that has large triangle paintings and chairs to sit on, while waiting. Once everyone in the previous group comes down, the group waiting can go up. The stairs are narrow and winding. It isn’t really possible for one person to go up while another comes down, hence the need for the wait. A guide is up top to answer questions and presumably to tell everyone they need to go down (for the next group) at some point in time. I walked down on my own before that happened. If you are able to make the rather strenuous climb, the views are worth the wait.
4. Complesso Museale Santa Maria della Scala
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 626 reviews
This museum complex, which houses the National Archaeological Museum of Siena, began as a pilgrims' hostel and orphanage, then served as a hospital from the 10th century to modern day.
Reviewed By westy54 - Sydney, Australia
The former hospital and hospice that occupied this site and which has now been transformed into a huge museum complex commenced operating before the 12th century. The Santa Maria della Scala organisation provided a large number of services to the people including taking in abandoned babies and children, serving meals to the poor, treating the sick and caring for pilgrims who often received free food and lodgings. The Via Francigena, the main pilgramage road to Rome, passed through Siena and near the hospital which is located directly opposite the Duomo. The hospital complex was greatly expanded over the course of the many centuries following its establishment and it became part of the University during the 18th century. The hospital though ceased operating in the second half of the 20th century and, following a period of substantial renovation and refurbishment, the hospital opened as a museum in 1995. Those renovations and refurbishments are still ongoing. The complex encompasses three levels, has its own internal covered roadway, its own 13th century church, the magnificently frescoed and ornately decorated marble and gold plated Chiesa di Santissima Annunziata, a separate Archaeological museum with a vast array of Etruscan and Roman urns, pottery, statues etc, a museum dedicated to children (not a must see), cavernous beautifully frescoed Pilgrim halls that used to be used to house the pilgrims and the sick plus much more. Down another flight of stairs and there are several large rooms, including the former granary, that house the original marble statues from the Fonte Gaia by Jacopo della Quercia as well as a treasury that holds precious relics and reliquary. There is also the Oratorio di Santa Caterina della Notte where it is said that Saint Catherine of Siena, who worked in the hospital, passed her nights in prayer. There are beautiful frescoes and paintings in many of the halls and chambers. There was also a visiting temporary art exhibition during our visit that had some lovely paintings. There are a lot of steps but we did notice one lift so I would say that it may be wheelchair friendly. Cost of entry was EUR 9-00 per adult but there are a number of combination tickets for entry to here plus the Duomo or for entry to here plus the Torre del Mangia and the Museo Civico which is the combination that we purchased for EUR 20-00 per person. This complex has something new and interesting at the end of each corridor and tunnel and whilst it is a bit of a labyrinth, it is not that difficult to navigate although I would allow a good two hours to see most of it. Well worth the time.
5. Palazzo Pubblico and Museo Civico
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 918 reviews
Siena's City Hall, whose construction began in the 13th century, houses the city's Civic Museum, whose collection includes the profound fresco entitled "Allegory of Good and Bad Government."
Reviewed By AlbertSalichs - Manresa, Spain
Palazzo Pubblico is the main building located in Piazza del Campo (the main square in Siena), located in this charming medieval town, in the Region of Tuscany, in the center of Italy. In fact, this building is the town hall and you can enter in the inner courtyard, which is wonderful. From here you can see the Mangia Tower from below, which is one of the most important turistic places in the city. The best views of the building are from the other side of Piazza del Campo, a place I am sure you will visit firstly, if you go to Siena. Top place! Wonderful complex: main square, town hall and tower. (See also Centro Storico di Siena and Torre de Mangia)
6. Pinacoteca Nazionale
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 299 reviews
Reviewed By KXLingle - Sioux Falls, United States
I cannot say enough about the Pinacoteca! I cannot recommend this gallery too highly! First, I cannot believe that there were so few people in the museum. I'm guessing that in addition to my family group of six, maybe another half a dozen people were in the entire building. Not everyone is an art historian or has studied art history. That said, the sheer volume of works presented and the quality of the presentation allows for one to walk through the progression of (religious) art from about 1200-1500 AD. I loved that the works were presented in various states and think that is so important for great institutions such as this for educational purposes. What I mean by this is that on some of the altarpieces and works the places for the gemstones are left empty where the originals were removed, or altarpieces that were cropped for translation to other locations are presented as they currently are. Why a work was made and how it has moved through history says so much about a society and the importance of both religion and artwork. Once can also follow stylistic changes from more Byzantine styles to the burgeoning of perspectival studies and into the perfectly finished realism so associated with the (northern) Renaissance.
7. Magazzini del Sale
8. Museo d’Arte per bambini
Overall Ratings
3.0 based on 5 reviews
9. Dali Siena - Da Galileo Galilei Al Surrealismo
The exhibition displays about 100 of the artist's most important works, which tell of the great interest that mathematics and science aroused in the Master of Surrealism.
10. Palazzo delle Papesse
"Salvador Dalí Siena - From Galileo Galilei to Surrealism" exhibits about 100 of the artist's most important works, which express the great interest that mathematics and the sciences aroused in the Master of Surrealism.
