Chiesa della Santissima Annunziata, Renaissance church in Piazza del Duomo, Siena, Italy

The Chiesa della Santissima Annunziata has no facade of its own: its brick left flank faces Piazza del Duomo, with a marble-clad lower right section and a loggia of bifore on marble columns. Inside, a single high nave carries a wooden coffered ceiling and Renaissance single-lancet windows, some walled up.

The church was founded in 1257 as part of the Spedale complex and originally served the spiritual needs of hospital patients. Major renovations in the late 15th century transformed it with Renaissance styling that defines its appearance today.

The name refers to the Annunciation, and the altarpiece of that subject by Giovanni Maria Morandi hangs over the first altar on the left. The bronze Christ risen on the high altar is signed and dated 1476 by Lorenzo di Pietro, called il Vecchietta. The apse fresco of the Pool of Bethesda was painted by Sebastiano Conca in 1731-1732, the hospital's last major commission, and restored in 2004.

The layout is straightforward, with the main altar positioned on a raised platform at the end of a wide staircase that is visible from anywhere in the church. Light enters through the Renaissance windows, making it easy to see the interior clearly.

The church has no independent facade but instead shares its outer walls with the hospital complex around it. This integration reveals how medieval institutions combined medical care and spiritual support in a single connected structure.