World Heritage Identification Number: 717
World Heritage since: 1995
Category: Cultural Heritage
WHE Type: Historic Cities & Urban Areas
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇮🇹 Italy
Continent: Europe
UNESCO World Region: Europe and North America
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The Historic Centre of Siena: A Medieval Masterpiece in Tuscany
The Historic Centre of Siena, located in the heart of Tuscany, Italy, stands as a testament to the enduring legacy of medieval urban planning. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, Siena represents the culmination of over two centuries of architectural and artistic development, from the 12th to the 15th century.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
Siena is the embodiment of a medieval city. Its inhabitants pursued their rivalry with Florence right into the area of urban planning. Throughout the centuries, they preserved their city's Gothic appearance, acquired between the 12th and 15th centuries. During this period the work of Duccio, the Lorenzetti brothers and Simone Martini was to influence the course of Italian and, more broadly, European art. The whole city of Siena, built around the Piazza del Campo, was devised as a work of art that blends into the surrounding landscape.
UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site
Criterion (i): Through its urban and architectural characteristics, the historic centre of Siena is a testimony to human creativity and expresses human artistic and aesthetic capacity in material form.
Criterion (ii): The strong, personal example of artistic civilization, its architecture, painting, sculpture and town planning in particular had a very strong cultural influence not merely on the whole territory of the Republic of Siena but also in Italy and Europe, especially between the 13th and 17th centuries.
Criterion (iv): The structure of the town and its evolution, uninterrupted over the centuries, along with a unity of design that has been preserved, has made Siena one of the most precious examples of the medieval and Renaissance Italian town.
Encyclopedia Record: Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, in Central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. With a population of 52,991, it is the 12th-largest city in the region as of 2025.Additional Site Details
Area: 170 hectares
Number of Components: 1
(ii) — Significant interchange of human values
(iv) — Outstanding example of a type of building or landscape
Coordinates: 43.31861111 , 11.33166667
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© Massimo Catarinella, CC BY-SA 3.0 Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)
