Have you ever fancied planning an Italian road trip from North to South? If so, you probably considered driving through the tuscan hills, posting an Instagram picture of the breath-taking sunset and ending the day with a glass of Chianti. Classy.
CloudGuide is here to help you with a bucket list of all the cultural and artistic locations you really can’t miss along the way.
Today we focus on a city located just a 70 km drive from Florence: the medieval charming Siena, whose city center was selected as UNESCO’s World Heritage site.
Right there, in the heart of the town, it’s hard not to spot Siena’s Cathedral, dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. If you turn your back on the “Duomo”, as the Cathedral is called in Italy, you face the new entry of the CloudGuide community: Santa Maria della Scala, once a civic hospital, one of the most ancient in Europe, and now a stunning museum complex.
Historically devoted to pilgrims and people in need, the old hospital, built in the XII Century, represents the nucleus of the actual centre. The structure around it grew and changed over the years, coming to include, nowadays, over seven building layers.
The first detail of the museum that catches the eyes of all visitors is on the fourth level, opened by the Women Pilgrims’s Hall. In the same layer you can also discover the Old Sacristy, the Old Refectory, and the Church of the SS. Annunziata, just to name a few... This is just the beginning of what can be observed while discovering the many areas of the complex: from the Archaeological Museum to the Fonte Gaia, passing through frescoes, brick walls and statues from centuries ago.
There is so much to say about this beautiful building, but better to discover it yourself in person, don’t you think? And as per usual, the CloudGuide app is there to accompany you throughout your visit !