Piazza del Campo

Piazza del Campo is the main public space of the historic center of Siena, a city in Tuscany, Italy, Its name comes from the Italian word campanilismo, which translates to "local pride" and campanile "bell tower."

The number of divisions is held to be symbolic of the rule of The Nine (Noveschi) who laid out the campo and governed Siena at the height of its medieval splendor between 1292-1355.

The palazzi signorili that lined the square housed the families of those who dominated city governance at the time the PIazza del Campo was built, such as the Sansedoni, the Piccolomini, and the Saracini.

Their homes have unified rooflines, deliberately built to demonstrate a sense of decorum in contrast to earlier high tower houses — seen as emblems of communal strife — such as may still be seen not far from Siena at San Gimignano.

"[3] The unity of these Late Gothic houses is affected in part by the uniformity of the bricks of which their walls are built: brick-making was a monopoly of the commune, which saw to it that standards were maintained.

[3] At the foot of the Palazzo Pubblico's wall is the late Gothic Chapel of the Virgin built as an ex voto by the Sienese, after the terrible Black Death of 1348 had ended.

Many of the original surrounding towers were taken down during the Baroque period and houses facing the Palazzo Pubblico lost their medieval style.

[1] Balconies with rectangular openings replaced the pointed arches of the windows and in the 19th century, there was a desire to renovate the city in a medieval style.

[1] Important social ideals of Siena including protection, community, and civic responsibility, are modeled in the design of the Piazza del Campo.

The Fonte Gaia ("Joyous Fountain") was built in 1419 as an endpoint of the system of conduits bringing water to the city's centre.