Santa Maria della Scala — Attraction in Siena

Unforgettable museum experience, never want to repeat that again. Many of the Google reviews incorrectly reference photos and information for the cathedral and library across the street, which is not at all related to the Santa Maria della Scala.

Less than 20 people were in the museum when we entered around 1630 on a Thursday. The ticket checker suggested we download an Android/iOS audio guide app for the museum, which seems impractical when the museum doesn’t provide WiFi. After entering there is little to “guide” you through the museum. The level you start on is fairly barren, the first room on your right and the big room with the frescos are really all you should bother seeing. The museum had several “temporary” exhibits which were modern era art projects, which seemed like they were expressly designed to ride the coattails of the primary exhibit. Downstairs there is an architectural display and altar with some religious relics. The Downstairs was equally baren with long hallways leading to empty rooms, and even a random dead end. Overall the museum seemed very confused with what they wanted to showcase and left you lost. We paid €9/ea for a ticket, but I’d value the experience around €3 given a ticket for the stunning cathedral and library across the...

Santa Maria della Scala, Siena What used to be a well-known civilian hospital that catered to abandoned children, the poor, the sick and pilgrims is now one of Siena's best-known museums.

In the Santa Maria della Scala you will find great masterpieces such as the interior frescoes, which are represented there.

the vast collection within covers a wide range of periods, functions and architectural intrigues. The primary points of interests include the labyrinth of the hallways and levels, the colorful frescoes, the archive of archaeological finds and the sparkling treasure in the hall of relics.

The Complex of Santa Maria della Scala is one of the oldest "hospitals" in Europe. Established along the via Francigena, it sits right in front of Siena's majestic Duomo and was thus the perfect site for welcoming travelers going along the pilgrimage route to Rome.

Santa Maria della Scala was one of the first European examples of a place completely dedicated to offering lodging and shelter to pilgrims, as well as offering support to the poor and a home to abandoned children - so it was hospital in the sense...

As art fans we were happy to learn about the new exhibition on Italian Art between 1915 and 1960 during our visit to Siena. However, the staffs at the ticket booth did not give us clear information about separate tickets for different institutions ("the museum" and "the pinacotecca") under the same roof. We bought tickets following the misleading information that we could visit both the temporary and permanent exhibitions, only to figure out later that these exhibitions were organized by separate institutions, thus we needed two tickets each. We decided not to buy another ticket since we did not want to deal with the ticket sales team again.

The exhibition itself was not too bad. However, English translation of texts for each section would have been helpful for people who cannot use a translation app. Having worked at art museums myself, I could not understand why they set unnecessary hurdles for visitors who want to visit the exhibitions and are also ready to pay for them. They need to be more considerate about customer communication on many...