Full Day visit of Siena and San Gimignano

Your private guide and driver   will meet   you at the hotel. The excursion   leads   you in the Tuscan countryside where   you can   visit   Siena that together with Florence and Pisa, is one of the leading art cities in Tuscany. This city has managed to preserve its medieval character completely. Your guided tour starts with a visit to San Domenico, a church much frequented for its venerated relics of Saint Catherine, patron saint of Italy and Europe. Then we head for the magnificent palace of Monte dei Paschi bank, founded in 1472 - the oldest bank in Europe. From there we reach nearby Piazza del Campo, the unrivalled center of vivid city life. Here is the   place where the Palio is played , Siena's breathtaking bareback horse race. With a stop at the Chigi-Saracini Palace you finally reach the Duomo with its marble pavement made with a startling sequence of 56 marble. Free time   for lunch and in the afternoon   continuation of the   tour   with the visit of san Gimignano .Positioned favourably at the via Francigena - an ancient roadway used by merchants, prelates, soldiers and pilgrims - this charming little town of only a few thousand residents reveals an unexpected richness of art treasures. Passing the main entrance gate Porta San Giovanni, you   will see  Piazza della Cisterna with its impressing medieval tower houses, and the church Santa Maria Assunta,with frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli, Taddeo di Bartolo and others. We continue to the Rocca di Montestaffoli, the old fortress with a tower from where you will enjoy a superb view on the surrounding Tuscan landscape. The tour concludes with a visit to the church of Sant'Agostino, embellished by Bennozo Gozzoli with 17 scenes of the Saint's Life. Back to Florence in the afternoon.