The most beautiful churches cathedrals basilicas and chapels Toscane

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption is one of the oldest Gothic churches in Italy. A true stone book, it is also one of the most beautiful creations of Italian Romano-Gothic art, the construction of which lasted almost two centuries (12th and 14th centuries), a symbol of Siena's wealth and prosperity.

Most of its sumptuous façade,built between 1284 and 1299, is the work of Giovanni Pisano, although the bas-relief on the south side of the Pardon Gate is by Donatello (the original is in the Museum of the Work). The facade is composed of white, black and red marble, its three portals and colonnades are decorated with fine sculptures. The horizontal effect of the white and black marble stripes characterizes its bell tower dating from 1313.
The interioris remarkable with its height under the ceiling. At your feet, the coloured marble floor, finely worked and divided into 56 sacred and profane scenes, is exceptional. Unfortunately, it is not possible to see all of them at the same time because a part is covered to preserve them. The finesse of the whole, created between 1372 and 1547, is prodigious. When the German composer Richard Wagner visited the cathedral, he was "moved to tears by this show," his wife Cosima told in a letter written in 1880

, and the choir and high altar are byBaldassarre Peruzzi (1506). In the right transept, we can see a Baroque chapel attributed to Bernini, while the left transept houses the splendid pulpit with porphyry columns and green marble of Nicola Pisano, a marvel of Gothic sculpture, as well as works by Donatello (such as the bronze statue of Saint John the Baptist). There is also Michelangelo's Saint Paul (1502), probably a self-portrait.

The crypt, opened to the public in 2002, located under the duomo's pulpit, is a total surprise. There are frescoes from 1270-1275 in a remarkably preserved state. This cycle of paintings was made dry (pittura a secco) by several artists such as Guido da Siena, Dietisalvi di Speme, Guido di Graziano and Rinaldo da Siena. 180 m² of scenes including the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus. Access is from the back of the main entrance of the cathedral, through the San Giovanni Baptistery.

Against the left side of the cathedral, the Libreria Piccolomini, built in 1495 by Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini Todeschini (future Pope Pius III), should not be missed.

A place with an atypical history! There was once an oratory dedicated to the Archangel Michael, built in the garden of a Benedictine monastery. Since then, there has been a portico that was enlarged and consolidated in 1337, as the current two-storey structure was built above it to store wheat in the event of famine. In 1380, because of the increasingly intense devotion to an image of the Madonna placed on a pilaster in the portico, the arcades on the ground floor were closed. The portico was thus transformed into an unusual church with two naves, which is now the worthy setting for a splendid marble tabernacle in Gothic style, the work of the Florentine sculptor Andrea Orcagna. This old church, transformed into a grain market and then again into a church, houses a beautiful, albeit somewhat dark, interior of medieval architecture.

Among the statues that adorn the exterior of the Orsanmichele church are those of Lorenzo Ghiberti in bronze, on the side of Arte della Lana Street, representing Saint Matthew, at the corner of Orsanmichele Street, and Santo Stefano. Those of Donatello - Saint George - and Verrocchio - a group with the Unbelief of Saint Thomas - towards Calzaioli Street have been replaced by copies (the originals being at the Bargello Museum). These statues were financed by the Florence merchant corporations, proof that the commercial activity was closely linked to religion and art. A few steps away, stands the imposing Palazzo Vecchio in Piazza della Signoria.