Santa Maria della Scala

Emerging over a thousand years ago, this was one of the first examples of a shelter and hospital, built on the Via Francigena to welcome pilgrims and travellers and to maintain foundling children. It was in fact a hospital until the 1890s and is now at the centre of a grand heritage project: the restoration and renovation of the “Spedale Grande” and its transformation into a cultural centre.

Today you can visit its vast and valuable artistic heritage: the Pilgrim frescos, the Cappella del Manto (Chapel of the Mantle), the Sagrestia Vecchia (Old Sacristy), the Cappella della Madonna (Chapel of the Madonna), the Chiesa della Santissima Annunziata (Church of the Most Holy Annunciation), the oratories of Santa Caterina della Notte (Saint Catherine of the Night) and Santa Maria sotto le Volte (St Mary under the Vaults).

There are also numerous museums: the Museo d’Arte per Bambini (Museum of Children’s Art), the Centro d’Arte Contemporanea/SMS Contemporanea (Centre for Contemporary Art/SMS), the Biblioteca e Fototeca d’Arte di Giuliano Briganti (Giuliano Briganti Art Library and Photography Collection), the Fonte Gaia (Gaia Fountain) by Jacopo della Quercia in Piazza del Campo, the reliquaries and golden objects in the Tesoro (Treasury) of Santa Maria della Scala, the whole Story of the city from the origins of Siena to the Middle Ages. The archaeological Museum is underground in a labyrinth of rooms and tunnels excavated from the rock. There is also an area designed to house temporary exhibitions and conventions. With over two hundred thousand cubic metres of space, a history of more than a thousand uninterrupted years of welcome and succour, and situated right in front of the Duomo (Cathedral), Santa Maria della Scala holds a strategic position in the extraordinary fabric of the city. Due to is size, its history, its network of paths and museums and its “city within a city” character, Santa Maria della Scala gives visitors the key to understanding the story of Siena, offering visitors a cultural experience that goes well beyond a typical museum visit.