This page is dedicated to other interesting places in Siena, including its walls and gates, loggias, the Medici Fortress, some squares and streets of the center.
Walls and gates of Siena
Siena retains a large part of its medieval walls, with ancient gates, which are often ignored by tourists despite their interest. The perimeter of the enclosure reaches 7 kilometers.
The city has seen seven or eight circles of walls, from late antiquity to the 16th century. Each route was based in part on the previous one. First around the cathedral, the first extension was made around the Mercatale with Piazza del Campo and Piazza del Mercato; then to the east and south; and in the fifteenth century encompassed the Basilica of San Francesco. With the Florentine domination from the 16th century, the walls had more an administrative function as tolls.
The following are still visible: Porta Camollia in the early 17th century, the Porta Camollia (13th-17th), Porta Ovile (13th-15th), Porta Pispini (14th), Porta Romana (the most beautiful, 14th-16th), Porta Tufi (14th), Porta San Marco (13th-15th), Porta Laterina (14th), Porta Fontebranda (13th).
Fortezza Medicea of Siena
The Medici fortress, also called Forte di Santa Barbara, has undergone several destructions and reconstructions since its construction in the 16th century. With four bastions, its outer perimeter reaches 1500 meters.
It replaced an old fortification, when Charles V of Habsburg had a citadel built by the Spanish army in the middle of the 16th century to establish its domination on the Sienese. It was destroyed by the inhabitants in 1552. But later, it was this time Cosimo I de’ Medici who rebuilt it in 1561-63 to assert his domination over Siena which did not want the power of the Medici.
From the eighteenth century onwards, it began to be demilitarized, hosting cultural events, such as the “Siena Jazz” or the headquarters of the “Enoteca Italiana di Siena”. It is decorated with a garden below with its fountain. Around you can park easily, and even find “white” places, not paying.
Pope’s Lodge
The Pope’s Lodge (Logge del Papa in Italian), in Via Banchi di Sotto, is a monumental loggia with its pretty Renaissance arcades, Which was given by Pope Pius II to his family Piccolomini in front of his own palace. They were built in 1462 by the Sienese architect Antonio Federighi, with a travertine facade, three arcades and Corinthian capitals.
Loggia della Mercanzia
A market is attested in this place in 1169, near the church of Saint-Paul which was later demolished to build the Loggia della Mercanzia (the trade loggia in English), on the back of Piazza del Campo, at the intersection of Via Banchi di Sopra, Via Banchi di Sotto and Via di Città.
Its lower part of the Renaissance was built in the fifteenth century, and the upper one in the eighteenth century. It is decorated with statues of saints: Saint-Pierre and Saint-Paul by Lorenzo di Pietro (known as Il Vecchietta, 15th century), and three former saints who were protectors of the city: Saint-Sabin (San Savino), Saint-Ansan (Sant’Ansano) and Saint-Victor (San Vittore) by Antonio Federighi (15th century). Its decorations date mainly from the years 1458 to 1462.
Some Siena squares
Piazza del Mercato
The market was built here in the 19th century on the south side of the Palazzo Pubblico, which separates it from the Piazza del Campo, and was previously located near the Loggia della Mercanzia. It is called from Piazza del Mercato.
Piazza dell’Indipendenza
Square formed in the nineteenth century, with a loggia from 1887 and behind the medieval Ballati Palace with its rectangular tower, where is the seat of the Academy of Rozzi, founded in 1531, and equipped with a theater.
Streets of the historic centre
Map with sights
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Sources and links
- Walls of Siena and gates : www.lemuradisiena.it, visitsienaofficial.it
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