Located in Central Tuscany, Siena is the capital of a province with the same name. Stretching over an area of 118 km² and with a population of 23,895 inhabitants, the city dominates the hills it sits upon, overlooking the valleys and rivers of Merse, Arbia and Elsa, the hills of the Montagnola and the wine-making hills of Chianti.

The medieval features, which have been so beautifully maintained, are the reason why Siena and its cultural and artistic centre were declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.

Siena’s origins date back to the Roman Empire when the city was under the rule of the Emperor Augustus and known as Seana Iulia. During the medieval centuries, the city was in the possession of the dioceses of Siena and Arezzo, and the Lombards, who also controlled Florence. During this time and thanks to the city’s many bankers, Siena also had good contacts with the Church State which controlled much of the rest of Central Italy.

Being an old city, Siena guards a rich abundance of monuments built in various architectural styles and during various historical eras. Right at the epicentre of the cultural heart of Siena is its most popular and arguably most beautiful monument, the Palazzo Comunale, also known as Palazzo Pubblico, in the Piazza del Campo. Built in the early decades of the 1300s, this building crowns the breathtaking piazza with its semi-circle of tilted steps and was once the seat of the Nine of Tuscany government. However, this building is not Siena’s only claim to cultural fame, as the city also has the equally beautiful but not as famous Palace of the Bank of Italy, the Palazzo Salimbeni; the Maccari Palace;  the Palazzo Tolomei and the Palazzo Piccolomini.

Like all of Italy, Siena has its own personal wealth of churches including the biggest and most charming Basilica of Osservanza, erected in 1490 and restructured several times in later periods; the smaller but just as splendid Church of the Santissima Annunziata, which also houses the hospital Santa Maria della Scala, as well as a precious altar; the Baptistery of San Giovanni, built in the first half of the fourteenth century; the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, the principal cathedral in Siena; the Roman-style Gothic Church of the Holy Spirit; almost completely rebuilt in the early 1500s; the Basilica di San Domenico, built Gothic style; the Church of Santa Maria dei Servi, built on the ruins of oldest church in the area, San Clemente; the Sanctuary of Santa Caterina; the home of the Holy Patroness of Italy, which belongs to the Benincasa family; the Oratory of the Kitchen, The Oratory of Dyeing and Sacristy, the Basilica di San Francesco, a major church dating back to the first half of 1200, and finally the Synagogue, a building dating back to 1786 and a rare example of Neoclassical and Rococo art.