Siena's Duomo Floor, Uncovered: The 2026 Dates

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For most of the year, the greatest pavement in Italy is under protective covering, and visitors walk over masterpieces without knowing. For a few months, Siena rolls the covers back — and in 2026 the windows are 27 June to 31 July and 18 August to 15 November. If you can steer your trip by one date in this city, steer by this one.

The Duomo's marble floor — over fifty inlaid and graffito scenes laid down across two centuries by Siena's masters — is the cathedral's horizontal treasury, and the reason its own custodians call the church a museum you stand in. Covered, the Duomo is magnificent. Uncovered, it is unrepeatable.

The 2026 windows, from the Opera itself

The uncovering is set each year by the Opera della Metropolitana di Siena, the cathedral's thousand-year custodian body, and 2026 runs in two windows:

From 1 November the complex switches to its reduced winter hours within the window.

Between windows the covers return — which means, for instance, that a mid-August visitor arrives days before the floor does (it returns on the 18th — which in 2026, after the Palio dell'Assunta was postponed by rain on two consecutive days, is race day itself). During display the complex runs extended hours — the cathedral 10:00 to 19:00 Monday to Saturday and 9:30 to 18:00 on Sundays, longer at the Museo dell'Opera. Dates and hours are the Opera's to set and adjust: confirm on its own site when booking, as we did for these.

What uncovering changes

The experience: ropes route you around and across the nave's scenes — sibyls, allegories and the great narrative panels of the crossing — with the marble itself underfoot at the margins. Guides cluster; allow real time; go early in the day or in the final hour.

The ticket: the combined OPA Si Pass rises from €14 to €16 while the floor is on display — the best surcharge in Tuscany. The pass structure, the three-day validity and the rest of the complex are in our complete Duomo guide.

The planning: the long autumn window overlaps the region's best travelling weeks — September and October — and the vendemmia. A floor-window trip is automatically a best-season trip.

If your dates miss it

The covered floor keeps a consolation: a handful of panels remain visible year-round, and the complex's other summits — the Piccolomini Library, the Facciatone climb, Duccio's Maestà in the museum — are unaffected by the calendar. The complete guide orders a covered-season visit so nothing else is missed. But if the floor is the reason — and for art travellers it legitimately is — move the trip, not the expectation.

Practical Information

2026 display windows: 27 Jun–31 Jul · 18 Aug–15 Nov — set and adjustable by the Opera; verify on operaduomo.siena.it when booking. From 1 Nov the complex runs reduced winter hours. Hours during display: cathedral Mon–Sat 10:00–19:00, Sun 9:30–18:00; Museo dell'Opera 9:30–19:30. Ticket: OPA Si Pass €16 during display (€14 otherwise) — covers the six-site complex, valid three days. Crowd strategy: first hour or last; midweek over weekend; and the November weeks are the connoisseur's window.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the Siena Duomo floor uncovered in 2026? From 27 June to 31 July and from 18 August to 15 November 2026 — per the Opera della Metropolitana, which sets the dates each year.

Is the Duomo floor worth planning a trip around? For art travellers, yes — it is among the great pavement cycles anywhere, visible only a few months a year, and its long window falls in Siena's best travelling season.

How much does it cost to see the uncovered floor? The combined OPA Si Pass runs €16 during display (against €14 otherwise) and covers the whole cathedral complex for three days.

Can you see any of the floor when it is covered? A few panels remain visible year-round, and everything else in the complex — library, museum, Facciatone — is unaffected. The full spectacle, though, belongs to the windows.

By the Siena & Toscana editors