Palazzo delle papesse, centro arte contemporanea, Renaissance palace and contemporary art center in Siena, Italy.
Palazzo della Papesse is a Renaissance palace in Siena featuring a stone facade with rusticated stonework on the ground level and two rows of paired windows on the upper stories. Inside, a courtyard displays sculptures from the early 1500s.
Construction began around 1460 under commission from a member of the Piccolomini family, designed by a renowned Renaissance architect and completed in the 1490s. The building rose during a period of significant economic and artistic prosperity in Siena.
The building's name recalls its connection to papal history, and it served as a venue for modern art exhibitions that shaped Siena's cultural landscape for years. The rooms still reflect this artistic legacy in their design and layout.
The building stands on Via di Città, one of the main streets in the historic center, and is easy to reach on foot. The rooms spread across multiple levels, so allow time to explore the different floors.
The scholar Galileo Galilei used the palace roof terrace for astronomical observations while staying as a guest of a high-ranking church official in the 1630s. These nighttime observations contributed to his understanding of the sky.
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