museo civico and torre del mangia
one of our first true touristy stops in siena was at the torre del mangia, the tall tower in their main plaza, palazzo publico. the next day, we went to the museo civico, which is also housed in the city hall off the plaza.
the view from the top of the torre del mangia is pretty fantastic. it has a great vantage point on the top of siena's duomo as well as the surrounding countryside. their system for climbing the tire could be expedited a bit, but it does prevent the horrible problem of tourist crossing in very narrow stairwells. this stairwell was pretty typical for stairwells built in the medieval ages/early renaissance.
the museum is in the right side of the building below. torre del mangia is at the top of the tower (obviously)! the square is pretty spectacular.
the museum consists of a number of frescos and is within the old civil building on the square. some of the art was quite spectacular. they have a number of massive frescos in fairly good shape. they also have reconstructed a "board" room with all of the wood seat carvings. to be fair, the museum lay-out starts with the most boring art first. i was almost ready to flee. then it progressively gets better ending with their crown jewel pieces. the frescos had odd lighting on them though making it difficult to see the paintings at times. it would be better served to find a better lighting situation. also, one of their gems, a carved tomb, is hidden upstairs without much signage indicating to go upstairs (also no map is given when you enter the museum). personally, i would shift this statue downstairs and start the exhibit with it as opposed to hiding it upstairs.
it is definitely worth a stop in siena although it could use a little tlc. also, we did see someone bring a dog into the museum? i am still not quite sure how that works. definitely something i have never seen before!
the view from the top of the torre del mangia is pretty fantastic. it has a great vantage point on the top of siena's duomo as well as the surrounding countryside. their system for climbing the tire could be expedited a bit, but it does prevent the horrible problem of tourist crossing in very narrow stairwells. this stairwell was pretty typical for stairwells built in the medieval ages/early renaissance.
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| Siena's Duomo |
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| Palazzo Pubblico from up high |
the museum is in the right side of the building below. torre del mangia is at the top of the tower (obviously)! the square is pretty spectacular.
the museum consists of a number of frescos and is within the old civil building on the square. some of the art was quite spectacular. they have a number of massive frescos in fairly good shape. they also have reconstructed a "board" room with all of the wood seat carvings. to be fair, the museum lay-out starts with the most boring art first. i was almost ready to flee. then it progressively gets better ending with their crown jewel pieces. the frescos had odd lighting on them though making it difficult to see the paintings at times. it would be better served to find a better lighting situation. also, one of their gems, a carved tomb, is hidden upstairs without much signage indicating to go upstairs (also no map is given when you enter the museum). personally, i would shift this statue downstairs and start the exhibit with it as opposed to hiding it upstairs.
it is definitely worth a stop in siena although it could use a little tlc. also, we did see someone bring a dog into the museum? i am still not quite sure how that works. definitely something i have never seen before!
time in tower and museum: 1 hr
times visited: 1
overall: B
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