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Duomo di Siena — Siena Cathedral’s ornate front facade and entrance plazaPhoto: xiquinhosilva · CC BY 4.0 · edited
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Duomo di Siena

Churches & cathedrals ·Siena
4.845.9K
#1Churches & cathedrals in SienaTravelers' Choice 2026
  • Visit: 90–240 min
  • from EUR 8
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About

Duomo di Siena is Siena’s cathedral of the Assumption, in Piazza del Duomo, Terzo di Città, with a marble-striped façade.

More photos 11

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Duomo di Siena — Cathedral facade, bell tower, and broad piazza in daylight Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SA 4.0 · edited
Duomo di Siena — Cathedral facade, bell tower, and broad piazza in daylightDuomo di Siena — Close view of the cathedral’s sculpted front and rose windowDuomo di Siena — Cathedral facade and bell tower viewed from the piazzaDuomo di Siena — Striped bell tower rising beside the cathedral’s marble wallsDuomo di Siena — Gothic stonework and pointed windows along the cathedral’s apseDuomo di Siena — Cathedral dome and bell tower above Siena’s rooftopsDuomo di Siena — Cathedral roof, dome, and bell tower seen from aboveDuomo di Siena — Striped marble side wall with rows of arched windowsDuomo di Siena — Striped columns and central nave inside the cathedralDuomo di Siena — Ornate arches, painted vaults, and striped columns insideDuomo di Siena — Piccolomini altar framed by the cathedral’s striped interior

Why go

  • The cathedral’s figurative marble floor has 56 panels, with subjects from biblical stories to ancient mythology.
  • Nicola Pisano’s carved pulpit is the cathedral’s oldest surviving artwork.
  • The Piccolomini Altarpiece contains four sculptures carved by the young Michelangelo between 1501 and 1504.
  • The unfinished Duomo Nuovo preserves a project intended to more than double the cathedral’s size.

Don't miss

  • Hermes Trismegistus panelAt the nave entrance, find Giovanni di Stefano’s 1488 panel; ten Sibyl panels line the side aisles, five on each side.Nave entrance and side aisles
  • Piccolomini Library frescoesPinturicchio’s 1502–1507 cycle tells the life of Pope Pius II and includes portraits of Raphael and the artist himself.Piccolomini Library
  • St. John the BaptistDonatello’s bronze saint, dating to about 1455, shares the chapel with eight frescoes painted by Pinturicchio in 1504–1505.Left transept chapel
  • Nicola Pisano’s pulpitLook around the octagonal pulpit for reliefs of Christ’s life and the Last Judgment, and for the lions supporting its columns.Cathedral interior
  • Chigi ChapelIn the circular chapel designed by Bernini, look for his marble Saint Jerome and Mary Magdalene.Right transept
  • Baptistery fontThe hexagonal font includes sculptures and reliefs by Donatello, Jacopo della Quercia and Lorenzo Ghiberti.Baptistery of San Giovanni, beneath the eastern choir bays
  • Duccio’s MaestàThe cathedral’s former altarpiece, painted in 1308–1311, shows the Madonna and Child with saints and angels.Museo dell’Opera del Duomo

Know before you go

  • The cathedral stands on a platform reached by eleven steps.
  • Visitors can enter the unfinished Duomo Nuovo façade through the cathedral museum. Narrow stairs lead up one extension wall to a high view of Siena.

Interesting facts4

1/4
  1. 1149

    The bell tower is about 77 metres tall and has six bells; the oldest was cast in 1149.

    Siena Cathedral - Wikipedia

  2. The dome rises from a hexagonal base supported by columns; Bernini added its lantern.

    Siena Cathedral - Wikipedia

  3. The Piccolomini Library has a blue ceramic floor decorated with crescent moons; a Roman copy of the Three Graces stands at its centre.

    Siena Cathedral - Wikipedia
  4. 1363

    The wooden choir stalls were made between 1363 and 1397 and retain 36 of their original 90 seats.

    Dom zu Siena - Wikipedia

Shorts

History

A papal banner is displayed in the presbytery each 18 November to commemorate the traditional consecration date. In 1870, fire destroyed the outer wooden dome and part of the nave’s wooden roof; both were later restored.

  1. 9th c.A church and the bishop’s palace stood at the site.
  2. 1058A synod at the church elected Pope Nicholas II and deposed antipope Benedict X.
  3. 1179Tradition dates the cathedral’s consecration to 18 November, with Pope Alessandro III present.
  4. 1215–1263The cathedral was designed and built on the site of an earlier structure.
  5. 1264The dome was completed.
Show all
  1. 1284–1297Giovanni Pisano led work on the lower façade.
  2. 1339Siena began an enlargement that would have turned the existing church into the new building’s transept.
  3. 1348The Black Death halted the enlargement.
  4. 1355The enlargement was officially abandoned.
  5. 1999An excavation rediscovered the crypt beneath the cathedral near the baptistry.

Sources: Siena Cathedral - Wikipedia · Siena - Wikivoyage (see) · Dom zu Siena - Wikipedia · Cathédrale Santa Maria Assunta de Sienne - Wiki… · Duomo di Siena - Wikipedia · checked 6 Oct 2026

Where
Piazza del Duomo 8, Siena

Plan from here: A day out →

Questions and answers

Are the façade statues at Duomo di Siena originals?

The figures outside are copies; the originals are kept in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo.

How do I reach the Baptistery of San Giovanni at Duomo di Siena?

Exterior stairs lead to the baptistery beneath the cathedral’s choir.

Which detail should I look for at Cardinal Petroni’s tomb in Duomo di Siena?

View the tombstone from its foot at an oblique angle in the left transept; its low relief appears three-dimensional.

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