This beauty celebrated all over the world sits in the nucleus of town. It occupies the place where the Sienese Roman forum sat. The square, built following a shell shape, is mentioned for the first time in a document of the second half of the 12th century. In those times Siena was under the rule of 24 Sienese aristocratic representative, the Governo dei Ventiquattro (1236-1270). The field where the Piazza del Campo sits was bought by the commune to use it as market, fair and public celebration site.
The Council of Nine (1287-1335) favoured the building of the square as it is seen today.
The piazza was built on problematic ground and space to construct the edifices around it. However, the square is a superb example of balance, beauty and elegance. In this great architectural work the Palio di Siena takes place yearly, a colourful horse race which began in the Middle Ages and is at present celebrated twice a year on 2nd July and 16th August.
The buildings around the piazza followed the building guidelines and regulations that the Council of Nine had established in the 13th century. The regulations concerned size and type of decoration. To create space for these new buildings other ones had to be torn apart. One of them was the Chiesa di San Pietro e San Paolo.
Piazza del Campo’s red brick paving is divided into nine fractions by white stone that symbolize each of the nine members of the Council of Nine. Its laying began in 1327 and finished in 1347, highlighting the Gothic Torre del Mangia and the Palazzo Pubblico, then headquarters of the council.
At present the Palazzo Pubblico houses the Museo Civico keeping a collection of masters’ paintings by the School of Siena and pieces of art scattered around Siena.
Torre Del Mangia (Picture 3)
Of all the buildings flanking the piazza this is the loftiest. It is next to the Palazzo Pubblico and served as bell-tower of town. In the medieval times the bell tower served as a watch tower to observe outside the walls, the spot from where citizens were called to attend any important meeting or announced any danger. The tower was named after its first guardian and bell-ringer Giovanni Balduccio, Mangiaguadagni (spendthrift) whose translation describes well his habits.
Its construction took from circa 1338 to 1348. The design had been given to Arnolfo di Cambio (architect and sculptor from Florence). However, as he died Muccio and Francesco di Rinaldo, his students, took over the commission. Agostino di Giovanni, Tuscan Gothic architect constructed the superior white travertine part of the tower following a design that is thought to have been executed by Lippo Memmi, the Byzantine style painter.
The 88m tall Torre del Mangia is one of the loftiest in the country. Its constructors used bricks and topped it with a stone bell hall. In the 1300s its clock was incorporated and the bell we hear today, the sunto, dates back to 1666.
A twisting 300-step staircase leads visitors to the upper part of the Tower del Mangia for them to have a full view of the town and its surroundings.
By the tower sits the beautiful Cappella della Piazza, an elegant marble gallery (1352-1376) which incorporates finishes of Renaissance style as it was ended in the 15th century. To thank the Virgin for making one third of the population of Siena survive after the Black Death, Siena’s survivors had this chapel constructed. The sculptures adorning it date back to the period ranging from 1378 to 1382 and were executed by Bartolommeo di Tome and Mariano d’Angelo Romanelli. The marble vault we see today replaced the original one which was made of wood in the 1400s.
Fonte Gaia
It is certainly an eye catching monument in the square which is supposed to have been constructed to commemorate the building of water systems in Siena. The present fountain replaced another fountain which carried the same name and had been built by an anonymous architect in 1343.
Jacopo della Quercia set to in 1408 to comply with the commission given by the government of Siena. His creation had to be placed where the old Fonte Gaia was and had to be more intricately ornate. Its piece incorporated eleven sculptures, plants and flowers in relief, cornices, steps, pillars and coats of arms. It took from 1408 to 1415. The fountain is a symbol of Siena and a fine example of great Italian sculpture of the 15th century. Tito Sarrocchi executed the copy we see today in the square as the original one was replaced with the purpose of protecting it (1858). However, he did not copy the statues that were at each extreme of the fountain.
The statues of Rhea Silvia, mother of Romulus and Remus and Acca Laurenthia, their wet nurse, and many others executed by della Quercia are kept in the Ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala, at present an art gallery. The Museo Civico houses other parts of the fountain.
