Santa Maria della Scala is located next to the city's cathedral, it is one of the most ancient European hospitals. It is now turned into a museum complex.
The hospital was founded by the Cathedral's priests across the Via Francigena to house the pilgrims coming from France and northern Europe to Rome. It also performed charitable work for the poor, including an orphanage for abandoned children. In the 15th century it became under the responsibility of the city's commune, receiving numerous donations from the local wealthiest families. It also received important artistic works: these include a famous fresco cycle (now lost) with Histories of the Virgin, on the façade, by Simone Martini, Ambrogio and Pietro Lorenzetti (1335); the series of frescoes with the Stories of the Hospital in the Pellegrinaio Hall, by Domenico di Bartolo, Lorenzo Vecchietta and Priamo della Quercia; the old sacristy, also decorated by Vecchietta; the Manto Chapel, with a lunette by Domenico Beccafumi; the 15th Fonta Gaia by Jacopo della Quercia; and the decoration of the large apse by Sebastiano Conca (late 18th century).

The most prestigious example of Sienese art in the Santa Maria della Scala complex, is the Pellegrinaio ward or 'pilgrims' hospice', built in the second half of the 14th century and decorated almost a century later with an important fresco cycle devoted to the history of the hospital. Artistic Treasures include a famous fresco cycle (now lost) with Histories of the Virgin, on the façade, by Simone Martini, Ambrogio and Pietro Lorenzetti (1335); the series of frescoes with the Stories of the Hospital in the Pellegrinaio Hall, by Domenico di Bartolo, Lorenzo Vecchietta and Priamo della Quercia, the old sacristy, also decorated by Vecchietta, the Manto Chapel, with a lunette by Domenico Beccafumi, the 15th Fonta Gaia by Jacopo della Quercia, and the decoration of the large apse by Sebastiano Conca (late 18th century).

Piazza del Campo is the principal public space of the historic center of Siena, Tuscany, Italy and is regarded as one of Europe's greatest medieval squares. It is renowned worldwide for its beauty and architectural integrity. The Palazzo Pubblico and its Torre del Mangia, as well as various palazzi signorili surround the shell-shaped piazza.

The open site was a marketplace established before the thirteenth century on a sloping site near the meeting point of the three hillside communities that coalesced to form Siena: the Castellare, the San Martino and the Camollia. Siena may have had earlier Etruscan settlements, but it was not a considerable Roman settlement, and the campo does not lie on the site of a Roman forum, as is sometimes suggested. It was paved in 1349 in fishbone-patterned red brick with ten lines of travertine, which divide the piazza into nine sections, radiating from the mouth of the gavinone (the central water drain) in front of the Palazzo Pubblico. The number of divisions are held to be symbolic of the rule of The Nine (Noveschi) who laid out the campo and governed Siena at the height of its mediaeval splendour between 1292-1355. It was and remains the focal point of public life in the City. From the piazza, eleven narrow shaded streets radiate into the city.

The history of Siena has been made on the Piazza del Campo, or better, il Campo, as the Sienese call it. Here the Sienese organised their spectacular and terrible 'games', later replaced by the Palio which takes place every year on July 2 and August 16. The Palio is a historical secular tradition strictly connected with the origin of the Contradas of Siena (districts into which the town is divided).

The Palazzo Pubblico (town hall) is a palace on the Piazza del Campo. Construction began in 1297 and its original purpose was to house the republican government, consisting of the Podestà and Council of Nine.
The outside of the structure is an example of Italian medieval architecture with Gothic influences. The lower story is stone; the upper crenelatted stories are made of brick. The facade of the palace is curved slightly inwards (concave) to reflect the outwards curve (convex) of the Piazza del Campo, Siena's central square of which the Palace is the focal point. The campanile or bell tower, Torre del Mangia, was built between 1325 and 1344 with its crown designed by the painter, Lippo Memmi. The tower was designed to be taller than the tower in neighboring rival Florence; at the time it was the tallest structure in Italy.

Siena | Palazzo Pubblico



The Via Francigena | From Siena to Ponte d'Arbia | Directions and main sights


The Via Francigena crosses the whole city and exits through Porta Romana to the south. From Piazzsa del Campo, walk down Via Roma in the direction of Porta Romana. To the right is the church of the Monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli, known as del Santuccio, now an education centre. Opposite, at number 50, is the Museo Bologna-Buonsignori, which houses an important collection of Etruscan ceramics once the property of Clemente Bologna di Montepulciano. To the left of Porta Romana is the museum of the Contrada di Valdimontone and then Piazza Alessandro Manzoni, with the magnificent flight of steps leading up to the Basilica dei Servi.

From Porta Romana, the Via Francigena continues south, along a route that largely coincides with highway 2. On this street there are the still ancient hospitals of St. Mary of Bellem, known as the leper house of St. Lazarus, and two others, the Chaplet and the Hill of Malamerenda.

The Porta Romana, one of the old gates in the city walls of Siena, guarded the road leading to Rome. The gate was built starting in 1327.

Just outside town is the church of Sant’Ilario, which was a popular stopping point for pilgrims on their way to Rome. After about 10 kilometres there is Buonconvento, a small hamlet that was once a strategic outpost of the lands governed by the Republic of Siena.

chiesetta romanica di Sant'Ilario d'Arbia

The village of Cuna stands along the SS2 Cassia, a few hundred meters before entering in Monteroni d' Arbia

Inside Grancia di Cuna, Monteroni d'Arbia | www.brunelleschi.imss.fi.it

Monteroni d'Arbia is considered the gateway to the southern province of Siena, a beautiful area crossed by the Via Cassia. It is a small country whose development is linked to the Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala. The town of 7,161 inhabitants is 13 km from Siena and was formed in 1810, under Napoleonic rule. Until that moment, in fact, it was part of Monteroni Podesta Buonconvento.

Monteroni d'Arbia takes its names from the Arbia torrent, a tributary of the Ombrone River.
The pieve of St. John the Baptist, at Corsano, dates from before 1031. With a nave and two aisles, it is an example of Romanesque architecture with Pisan and Lombard influences. It houses two canvasses by Alessandro Casolari.
The church is mentioned since 1031. The front, organized in two orders with small arches and semi-columns in the highest part and with wide blinded –arches on the base, is inspired by Pisano models, interpreted in Lombard terms. On the inside, with three naves, the Romanesque elements are evident in the semi-pilasters of the front and in the pilasters of the first span. The rest of the arches of division, in fired-brick, belongs to a following stage. Noteworthy are two canvas(now in restructuring) by Alessandro Casolani; the “Annunciation” and the “Adoration of the Pastors” and a sculpture in polychrome terracotta which represents Saint Agatha, attributable to Carlo di Andrea Galletti.

The church of Sts. James and Chrstopher, at Cuna, has remains of 14th century frescoes.

Taking the Cassia in the direction of Buonconvento you soon come to Lucignano d'Arbia, a fortified village where the Romanesque parish church of San Giovanni Battista frescoed in the 6th century by Arcangelo Salimbeni is well worth a visit. Setting out once more from the Cassia, the road leading to Radi follows another splendid stretch of the Crete.
. The twelfth century parish church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, holds a Crucifixion by Bartolomeo Neri (Riccio).

la Pieve di San Giovanni Battista a Lucignano d'Arbia
Cherubini Photography - Monteroni d'Arbia and Lucignano d'Arbia

Quinciano si trova su una collina fra il torrente Sorra e la via Cassia, circa 3 Km a sud di Monteroni.
La chiesa di Sant'Albano, ormai completamente spoglia, conservava fino a pochi anni fa due importanti testimonianze della sua storia: la lunetta di Sano di Pietro con l' "Incoronazione della Vergine e Angeli" e l' "Immacolata Concezione coi Santi Albano e Pietro" di Rutilio Manetti (1608), oggi conservate al Museo di Buonconvento. Nell'interno a navata unica si conservano un bassorilievo in stucco policromo della fine del XVI sec. con la "Madonna col Bambino e Angeli" cui era riservata la devozione delle popolazioni locali, come attestano gli ex-voto che la circondano, e un "Salvator Mundi", affresco del XVII secolo; ai lati della pittura erano collocate due statue in legno policromato raffiguranti la "Vergine Annunciata e San Giuseppe", oggi esposte al Museo di Buonconvento.

The Cappella Pieri Nerli or Pierli Nerli chapel is in Quinciano, in the Commune of Monteroni d’Arbia. It was erected by order of the Count Ferdinando Pierli Nerli, who assigned the project to Giulio Rossi. When he died, it was finished in 1861 by Giuseppe Partini. It is a sort of anthology of the sienese purist culture of the second half of the XIX century. The building, with a rectangular plant, external face in bricks, is covered by a cross vault; the entrance portal is preceded by a narthex with pinnacle. The inside is illuminated by four circular eyes. The most important grave is that dedicated to the father of the client, made by Sarrocchi and it represents the “Desolation consoled by the Faith”. In the ceiling of the vaults, Cesare Maccari frescoed the “Four Evangelists”, on the walls Alessandro Franchi painted the “Four cardinal virtues”.

Castello di Saltennano is an imposing medieval complex, a fortification surrounded by boundary walls, which can still be seen in the three massive embattled towers.
The castle is built around a central court, with an only brick entrance and an arch furnished with openings between supporting corbels for dropping stones on assailants.