Siena Cathedral

Siena Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Siena) is a medieval church in Siena, Italy, dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church, and now dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. Since its construction in the early 13th century, the cathedral has been central to Sienese identity. The cathedral complex was continuously expanded from its earliest days until the Black Death halted construction in 1348. The citizens of Siena continually advocated for the cathedral to become one of the largest churches in Europe. The cathedral was designed and built between 1215 and 1263 on the site of an earlier structure. It has the form of a Latin cross with a slightly projecting transept, a dome and a bell tower. The dome, completed in 1264, rises from a hexagonal base with supporting columns. The lantern atop the dome was added by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The bell tower has six bells, with the oldest cast in 1149. The nave is separated from the two aisles by semicircular arches. The exterior and interior are constructed of white and greenish-black marble in alternating stripes, with the addition of red marble on the façade. Black and white are the symbolic colors of Siena, linked to the black and white horses of the legendary city's founders, Senius and Aschius. The Italian artists Nicola and Giovanni Pisano, Donatello, Pinturicchio, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and Bernini participated in the completion and decoration of the cathedral. It was the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Siena, and from the 15th century that of the Archdiocese of Siena. It is now the seat of the Archdiocese of Siena-Colle di Val d'Elsa-Montalcino.