Siena Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Siena) is a medieval church in Siena, Italy. It was the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Siena, and from the 15th century that of the Archdiocese of Siena.
The cathedral was designed and completed between 1215 and 1263 on the site of an earlier structure. The dome was completed in 1264. The exterior and interior are constructed of white and greenish-black marble in alternating stripes, with the addition of red marble on the façade. Black and white are the symbolic colors of Siena. The finest Italian artists of that era completed works in the cathedral including Nicola and Giovanni Pisano, Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and Bernini.
The façade of Siena Cathedral is one of the most fascinating in all of Italy and certainly one of the most impressive features in Siena. Each of the cardinal points (west, east, north, and south) has its own distinct work; by far the most impressive of these is the west façade.
The inlaid marble mosaic floor is one of the most ornate of its kind in Italy, covering the whole floor of the cathedral. This undertaking went on from the 14th to the 16th centuries, and about forty artists made their contribution. The floor consists of 56 panels in different sizes. Most have a rectangular shape, but the later ones in the transept are hexagons or rhombuses. They represent the sibyls, scenes from the Old Testament, allegories and virtues. Most are still in their original state.
The hexagonal dome is topped with Bernini’s gilded lantern, like a golden sun. The trompe-l’œil coffers were painted in blue with golden stars in the late 15th century. The colonnade in the drum is adorned with images and statues of 42 patriarchs and prophets, painted in 1481 by Guidoccio Cozzarelli and Benvenuto di Giovanni.
Adjoining the cathedral is the Piccolomini Library, housing precious illuminated choir books and frescoes painted by the Umbrian Bernardino di Betto, called Pinturicchio, probably based on designs by Raphael. The frescoes tell the story of the life of Siena’s favorite son, cardinal Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who eventually became Pope Pius II. He was the uncle of cardinal Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini, then archbishop of Siena and future pope Pius III, who commissioned this library in 1492 as a repository of the books and the manuscript collection of his uncle. The ceiling is covered with painted panels of mythological subjects. They were built between 1502 and 1503 by Pinturicchio and his assistants.
The entrance is a finely carved marble monument with two openings with round arches, executed in 1497 by Lorenzo di Mariano. It contains a round relief of St. John the Evangelist (probably) by Giovanni di Stefano and, below the altar, a polychrome Pietà by the sculptor Alberto di Betto da Assisi in 1421. Above this marble monument is a fresco of the Papal Coronation of Pius III by Pinturicchio in 1504.
Siena Cathedral is accessible on foot within a few blocks from the historic town center of Siena. The city is located in the southern part of the Tuscany region of central Italy and well connected via Highway and train from all major locations in Italy.
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