Biblioteca Piccolomini
Biblioteca Piccolomini
5
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Monday
10:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Tuesday
10:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Wednesday
10:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Thursday
10:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Friday
10:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Saturday
10:30 AM - 5:30 PM
Sunday
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
5.0
2,142 reviews
Excellent
1,832
Very good
269
Average
33
Poor
4
Terrible
4
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Paolo Carboni
San Benedetto Del Tronto, Italy14,692 contributions
Jan 2024 • Family
This extraordinary work, one of the great masterpieces of world painting, is the work of Pinturicchio and constitutes one of the great riches of the Siena Cathedral. They tell the stories of Pope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini with a great wealth of detail. The 10 scenes present both natural, landscape and architectural elements, always of great character.
Written January 28, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Paola B
Fabriano, Italy5,155 contributions
Oct 2023 • Couples
Access to the Library is located inside the cathedral along the nave on the left and the visit is part of the tour of the cathedral. The library was set up and decorated in the years between the end of the 1400s and the beginning of the 1500s to preserve precious illuminated manuscripts which are still partly on display there and to enhance the work of Pope Pius II with the exceptional frescoes by Pinturicchio . Among the help that Pinturicchio availed himself of, there was also the hand of the young Raphael. This is to say the high artistic value of this room. The eye is also attracted by a Roman copy of a Hellenistic statue of the three Graces. A magnificent decorative apparatus!
Written October 18, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ksufan88
Wichita, KS7,012 contributions
Nov 2023 • Couples
Entrance to this smallish library is from within the cathedral. There was no line during our visit, but I can easily imagine there being one during the high season. The wall and ceiling frescoes are very colorful, and the lower portions of the walls are lined with glass cases containing very large and colorful books.
Written November 30, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SMLikestoTravel
Bengaluru, India390 contributions
May 2023 • Family
This is one single room inside the Siena Cathedral which was originally intended to be used as a library. But as the room ended up being rarely used, we have 500 year old frescos with their original vibrant colours still intact with no restoration ever done on it. There is a longish queue to enter but it is well worth it.
Written September 20, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Firefly47
Melbourne, Australia116 contributions
Dec 2019
The Biblioteca which is within the Duomo in Siena, Italy is exquisitely beautiful!! once one enters the Duomo, it is off to one side of the Duomo. There is a small additional charge to enter the library which is truly worth the extra cost!!
The Biblioteca Piccolomini houses a collection of very large books from the 1400's which are beautifully depicted in gold, reds and blues which are the predominant colours. In the centre of the room are the group of statues known as Three Graces.
The painted frescos which are very heavily gilded leaves one in awe! Every centimetre in that ceiling is covered in work that leaves the observer overwhelmed at the beauty on display!!
The Biblioteca Piccolomini houses a collection of very large books from the 1400's which are beautifully depicted in gold, reds and blues which are the predominant colours. In the centre of the room are the group of statues known as Three Graces.
The painted frescos which are very heavily gilded leaves one in awe! Every centimetre in that ceiling is covered in work that leaves the observer overwhelmed at the beauty on display!!
Written January 27, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mary S
Hartland, VT12 contributions
Apr 2023 • Couples
Absolutely beautiful room. Make sure to duck in while visiting everything else. We bought the ticket that let us go on the roof plus all the rooms. We loved every part of it. One caution as this happened to us---they swiped our ticket to the main Duomo to go to the roof. And then after that tour when we wanted to come back inside they said no you have already been in. We did work it out as our roof guide was nearby and we explained it to her but beware of this.
Written September 21, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Asiyah Noemi K
Pula, Croatia5,372 contributions
Jan 2020
The Piccolomini Library is a monumental environment of the Siena cathedral.The library is magically beautiful. Its frescoes and exposed books are priceless treasure. In the honor the memory of the maternal uncle Enea Silvio Piccolomini (Pope Pius II), and to preserve the rich bibliographic patrimony that the pontiff and humanist collected when he was in Rome, Cardinal Francesco Todeschini Piccolomini, archbishop of Siena (later Pope Pius III), around in 1492 he was built a library on the premises of the old rectory along the north-western side of the Cathedral. Todeschini was inspired by the French tradition that included libraries attached to cathedrals and by the opening of the Vatican Library of Pope Sixtus IV. As for the chronology of the frescoes that decorate the library, they were made by Pinturicchio and his workshop in a period of time ranging from 1503 to 1508 and celebrate the life and deeds of the pontificate of Pius II, rich in evocation of landscapes and real and imaginative costumes, with refined representations of ceremonies and characters, performed with a wealth of glazed colors. Among the beautiful murals besides Pope Pius II is the character of Pinturicchio himself. In the scene with the canonization of Saint Catherine of Siena, among the public of the religious orders, in the lower left, the two figures in which the young Raphael (with red stockings) have long recognized themselves, who would have collaborated with Bernardino di Betto the execution of the frescoes in the Library, and Pinturicchio himself (with the red cap). The fifth scene of the cycle is one of the best known: it represents the meeting, promoted by the pontiff, between Emperor Frederick III and Eleonora of Portugal, which took place on February 24, 1452, near Porta Camollia. In addition to the murals in the room, we can also admire the marble sculpture of Three Graces. Magnificent codes ( Hand Painted and Written Books),(Gradualie Antifonari) are preserved in the display cases on the walls. It is a very representative collection for the history of the Italian miniature of the fifteenth century. Beyond the Sienese artists, the most precious pages are those decorated by Girolamo da Cremona and Liberale da Verona.
Written March 9, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
dillons780
Long Island, NY527 contributions
Jun 2022
The library is connected to the Duomo di Siena and is a relatively small room which makes for a great quick visit after visiting the Duomo di Siena. The library is stunning and unlike anything we've seen before. Tickets are sold in combination with entrance to the Duomo di Siena. Highly recommend.
Written June 26, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Maggie N
1 contribution
Jul 2022 • Family
It was definitely worth seeing. The pope depicted in the ceiling was an interesting man. The manuscripts are gorgeous, especially if you’re interested in reading music. It’s a quick view, and worth it! The whole church is gorgeous.
Written July 27, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Felipe M
Sao Paulo, SP270 contributions
Feb 2014 • Solo
The entrance to the Duomo is free, but to visit the complementary rooms and buildings you must have to pay small fees. And, to enter the Library you have to pay as well, but it is totally worth it!
Inside you'll find an incredibly painted and decorated room that displays books from the 13th, 14th and 15th !! Looking at how huge they are and checking how they were written will make you time travel or feel inside one of those medieval movies!
Inside you'll find an incredibly painted and decorated room that displays books from the 13th, 14th and 15th !! Looking at how huge they are and checking how they were written will make you time travel or feel inside one of those medieval movies!
Written March 26, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
È consentito fotografare l’interno? Si paga una sovrattassa al biglietto?
Written April 18, 2019
Si è possibile fotografare e non c è una sovrattassa. Non fare una visita veloce sia la biblioteca che la chiesa meritano una visita accurata
Written April 21, 2019
vorrei andare a vedere il pavimento del Duomo in occasione della scopertura e , visto che ne parlano tutti bene, anche la libreria , ho visto un biglietto intero a 8 euro, include anche l'ingresso alla biblioteca??? scegliendo l'orario si evita la fila???' grazie
Written August 1, 2017
la biblioteca rientra nel biglietto di ingresso al Duomo
Written August 4, 2017
what is the admission price, and are the lines long? Thank you.
Written April 23, 2017
The Piccolomini Library is housed within the Duomo. On TripAdvisor, The Duomo is listed as the Siena Cathedral and is the #2 "Things to do in Siena".
If you go to that TripAdvisor listing, you will see a yellow button linking you to the Duomo of Siena Complex: Skip-the-line Entry Ticket, which is approx. $13 and up cost.
There's also a yellow button link to the Viator Skip the Line: Siena Duomo and City Walking Tour, cost approx. $33/pp. I booked this tour ahead of time and my entrance to the Duomo was included in the cost. It was a great tour with Sylvia.
The Siena Cathedral listing also has a website link to the official Duomo ticket office (the operaduomo site) where you can make inquiries via email or even book tickets online.
The Piccolomini Library, and the Duomo it's housed in, were two of my favorites on the tour I took. Since I was part of a late March skip the line tour, I can't speak about wait times, because we only had a 5 minute wait while our tour guide picked up our passes in the ticket office. We then simply walked into the Duomo without queuing.
Italy tourist sites can be crowded anytime you go, I would book a "skip the line" ticket or tour ahead of time through one of methods I describe above. However, if you need more flexibility, then take a look at TripAdvisor reviewer, pingaroo, who talks about purchasing a skip the line entrance pass to the complex for 13 Euro, plus 7 Euro more for the Gate of Heaven Tour. Pingaroo purchased the tickets upon arrival in Siena on a Sat in September 2016. The pingaroo review is on the Siena Cathedral review page listed under "Must do Gate of Heaven tour" posted on March 30 2017.
Hope this helps :)
Written April 23, 2017
Is it open all year round or only during certain periods like the floors?
Written June 28, 2016
I believe the library is open year round at the same times as the Duomo itself.
Written June 28, 2016
È possibile vedere la biblioteca senza andare nella cattedrale e pagare il biglietto solo per la biblioteca?
Written June 9, 2016
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