Siena has announced the 2021 dates when the extraordinary inlaid marble mosaic floors of the city's cathedral will be unveiled as part of an eagerly-awaited annual event. The magnificent marble floor, covered with masonite sheeting for the rest of the year, can be visited from 26 June until 31 July and again from 18 August until 17 October.

Visitors, who will be obliged to follow covid-19 protocls, will be able to admire the inlaid floor whose 56 panels were created between the 14th and 16th centuries. The interlocking "marble carpet" floor was described by Giorgio Vasari as "the most beautiful, largest and most magnificent floor that ever was made."