Piazzo del Campo

Piazza del Campo is the principal public space of the historic center of Siena, Tuscany, Italy and is regarded as one of Europe's greatest medieval squares. It is renowned worldwide for its beauty and architectural integrity.

The open site was a marketplace established before the thirteenth century on a sloping site near the meeting point of the three hillside communities that coalesced to form Siena: the Castellare, the San Martino and the Camollia. The conformation of the ground turns the square into a big concave shell. The floor of the square is paved with red bricks in a fishbone pattern which is divided into a sunburst pattern by nine strips of travertine.

There is also the Palazzo Comunale (town hall), unusually built on the lowest part of the square, and also the tall, slender Mangia Tower (or Torre del Mangia) that stands out against the sky (it reaches 102 metres including the lightning conductor). At the base of the Palazzo is the Chapel of the Virgin, or Chapel of the Square, constructed and voted for by the Sienese, after the end of the terrible plague of 1348. - See more at: http://www.italyguides.it/en/tuscany/siena/piazza-del-campo#sthash.A59RAtKs.dpuf

The Mangia Tower (Torre del Mangia) stands over the square at a height of 88 meters. It was built in 1338-1348. The tower was built to be exactly the same height as the Siena Cathedral as a sign that the church and the state had equal amounts of power.

here is also the Palazzo Comunale (town hall), unusually built on the lowest part of the square, and also the tall, slender Mangia Tower (or Torre del Mangia) that stands out against the sky (it reaches 102 metres including the lightning conductor). At the base of the Palazzo is the Chapel of the Virgin, or Chapel of the Square, constructed and voted for by the Sienese, after the end of the terrible plague of 1348. - See more at: http://www.italyguides.it/en/tuscany/siena/piazza-del-campo#sthash.A59RAtKs.dpuf