Historic Centre of Siena

Siena, in the hills of Tuscany, is the embodiment of the medieval Italian city, its inhabitants having so fiercely preserved the Gothic appearance acquired between the 12th and 15th centuries that the whole town reads as a single work of art blended into its landscape. Built across three hills around the sloping, shell-shaped Piazza del Campo, it is crowned by the soaring brick town hall and its slender Torre del Mangia, and by a striped marble cathedral rich in sculpture and painting. During its golden age the rivalry with Florence spurred not only warfare but artistic ambition, and the work of Duccio, Simone Martini and the Lorenzetti brothers here helped shape the course of Italian and European art. Twice a year the Campo hosts the Palio, a bareback horse race between the city's contrade. The Historic Centre of Siena was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995.