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Piazza del Campo
Downtown Sienna
Siena, Italy
Submitted by: Ethan Kent
An open plaza located at the physical and cultural heart of the city. Its red-brick fan shaped paths radiate out from the facade of the Palazzo Pubblico.
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Why It Works
The square works well because of its edge uses, but also because of the increasing public and informal activity as one moves toward the center, which offers a spectrum of comfort to all and draws people further into the space to linger.
The curved side of the square provides a very strong active edge with very small breaks for narrow streets that spill into the Piazza. Together, the active edge and the slope of the plaza towards the city hall, provide orientation navigationally, but also offer a comfortable orientation to social gathering and interaction.
The promenade around the edge interacts with the cafes and with the large bollards in the inner ring that tend to facilitate gathering and sociability. This channeling between public and private activity allows for promenading as an activity where promenaders and stationary onlookers enjoy participating in each other’s experience.
From the entering streets, edge retail, cafes and bollards, people are drawn further in the center of the square. Younger people and more informal play activities tend to take place further into the square while the more formal activity enjoys the shade and protection of the edges.
History & Background
Sienna is notable for its extremely well preserved urban center as many of the buildings have not changed since medieval times. The Piazza Del Campo, once the site of a Roman forum, early on became the city's central market place. It become the center for civic life with the construction of teh Town Hall in the 12th century (now the Civic Museum). Its spoke-like paving pattern was commissioned in 1349 by Siena's then ruling body, the Council of Nine, to symbolize their power and the nine folds of the Madonna's cloak.
Since the Piazza's completion, it has remained the site of most of the city's public events, including bullfights, executions, festivals, and the famous Palio, a breakneck, bareback 90-second horserace that occurs twice a year.
Contact Info:
Piazza del Campo information : 56(0577-28 05 51)
Related Links:
- 60 of the World's Great Places - Piazza del Campo was named one of the 60 greatest places in the world
- The World's Best and Worst Parks - Piazza del Campo tops PPS's list of the best squares and plazas in the world.
User Comments:
> Add your own comment about Piazza del Campo
> Add your own commentabout Piazza del Campo
That being said, I think this is one of the most over-romanticized places in the world. It is unbelievably hot in the summer as the whole thing is paved with dark stone and lacking a single tree. When I was there, everyone was trying to get out of plaza unless they were sitting in the shade of the tower (a sight to see, a barren plaza except for the edges and people sitting in the long shadow of this tower), around the water fountain at the top, or at one of the cafes. All of the cafes around the plaza are overpriced and not great, and most of what is sold by the vendors that proliferate like mosquitoes is tourist flags and pins... nothing interesting.
Don’t get me wrong, it is has great things, too. But people talk about it as if the Second Coming will happen here. I found the little terrace plaza located about 100 yards from the Campo that looked out over the surrounding countryside to be much better. It is located at the end of a street that winds behind the government building with the tower. If you go to Siena, walk through THE CAMPO to this little plaza and have a coffee or meal at one of the empty restaurants while you look of the countryside surrounding Siena.