Heritage Sites in Tuscany

Perhaps you do not know that among the six heritage sites in Tuscany four of them are in the area of Siena: what a privilege it is for us!

Here is the list and the selection criteria of UNESCO for each one of them:

Historic Centre of Siena from 1995

Siena is the embodiment of a medieval city. Its inhabitants pursued their rivalry with Florence right into the area of urban planning. Throughout the centuries, they preserved their city's Gothic appearance, acquired between the 12th and 15th centuries. During this period the work of Duccio, the Lorenzetti brothers and Simone Martini was to influence the course of Italian and, more broadly, European art. The whole city of Siena, built around the Piazza del Campo, was devised as a work of art that blends into the surrounding landscape.

Criteria:

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Siena in 24 hours

CATHEDRAL SQUARE

Cathedral, dedicated to the Assumption, was completed in the main parts by 1215. The design of Siena was very ambitious so they wanted to transform the current in a cathedral in size that exceeds that of rival historical Florence, the existing structure was even made in the transept of what to build, but unfortunately the plague of 1348 decimated the population and other problems became so well the Sienese had to give up dreams of grandeur. Signs of this project are however still visible on the right of the cathedral because the work had already started before the plague.

- Floor, (visible only in September and October): divided into 56 squares, representing the history of Time, Man and Salvation. Carried out between

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Hidden places of Siena: Church and Museum of Contrada della Torre

All the 17 Contrade of Siena have their own Church and Museum. They are really little gems which worth a visit.

The Contrada della Torre opens theit Church and Museum every third Sunday of each month from 10 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.

For booking and costs send an e-mail info@contradadellatorre.it or call 0577 222555 or 0577 271226.

When I visited this Contrada I was really fascinated by what I saw and the passion with which our guide took us to the discovery of the treasures of his Contrada.

The Contrada della Torre is the only district that has a Church born with that destination and not as

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Hidden places of Siena: TAVOLETTE di BICCHERNA Museum

There are some hidden gems in Siena which escape the mass tourism because they are less publicized. One of these is represented by the Tavolette di Biccherna preserved in the Archivio di Stato of the city. They are wooden boards painted with tempera or oil which served as covers of records belonging to the office of Biccherna which from the beginning of the Comune until the SEC. XVIII was the judiciary responsible for the administration of public revenues. These records were kept by the Camarlingo -the treasurer head office- who was a friar and the most important officials, the Provveditori (supervisors).

The oldest covers represent the Camarlingo intent on his work and the arms of the Provveditori.

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Hidden places of Siena: the BOTTINI

A MASTERPIECE OF MEDIEVAL HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING IN SIENA.

Perhaps not everyone knows that Siena is formed by two equally beautiful cities, one above and one under ground as the Emperor Charles V said when he visited our town.

That 'over' one is the jewel that all of us know and admire with its magnificent square, the Campo, a shaped shell, divided into nine segments in memory of the Government of the Nine in which Siena reached a peak cultural and political, famous worldwide for the Palio and surrounded by important historical buildings that give the feeling of being almost in the room of an exclusive private home ... but at open sky. Very romantic especially when it is illuminated by the moon.

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