La Loggia della Mercanzia

Loggia della Mercanzia

The Loggia della Mercanzia is one of the most important monuments of the Sienese Renaissance. Built in the first half of the 15th century, based on a project by Jacopo della Quercia, as a rich extension of the entrance to the Mercanzia Court, La Loggia della Marcanzia consists of five arches supported by four finely decorated marble pillars.
On the outside of the same pillars there are five marble statues placed in special niches. At the beginning of the respective alleys, frontally we see San Pietro and San Paolo sculpted by Lorenzo di Pietro known as il Vecchietta. Three patron saints of the city of Siena can also be admired: San Savino (lateral), San Vittore and Sant'Ansano (front), works by Antonio Federighi. The works date back to around 1459-1462.
The Loggia is laterally bordered by two marble benches. The one on the left, by Urbano da Cortona, represents the cardinal virtues; the one on the right, once again by Antonio Federighi, represents some characters from Roman history of the Republican era. Both benches date back to the same period as the statues. The vaulted ceiling, decorated with stuccos and fresco paintings, was restored in the 19th century according to the rather invasive criteria of the time and has lost many of its original characteristics.

Circolo degli Uniti

Today the whole complex of the ancient Court of Merchandise, made up of the Palazzo and the Loggia, belongs to the Circolo degli Uniti, an association whose foundation dates back to 1657.
In the mid-eighteenth century, when the property, by "motu proprio" of the Grand Duke Francesco Stefano di Lorena, passed to the "Conversazione dei Signori Uniti nel Casino di Siena", the Palazzo della Mercanzia, whose facade opens onto Piazza del Campo, was completely restructured in the forms we see today and the illustrious architects Luigi Vanvitelli and Ferdinando Fuga offered drawings for the project.