Rocca Salimbeni and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena

We are in front of the impressive former stronghold of the Salimbeni family, wealthy Ghibelline merchants and bankers. In the 15th century, their fortress home was confiscated by the Commune of Siena which placed the toll post and the “Monte Pio” later incorporated into Monte dei Paschi di Siena. The Monte dei Paschi is the oldest bank in the world, founded in 1472; its head offices are still in this palace:

Monte dei Paschi di Siena

Monte dei Paschi di Siena

Monte dei Paschi di Siena

The entrance to the bank headquarters:

Looking back toward the square:

Security was fairly tight within the bank headquarters (especially by Italian standards) and so I did not get the opportunity to take pictures of the art and antiques, but the interior was gorgeous. For more about Monte dei Paschi di Siena and/or a virtual tour of the interior of their headquarters and art collection, click here.

Monte dei Paschi di Siena has offices all over the city and they’re all attractive. Here is another:

And sometimes you only know the bank has an office inside a building because of this:

Although based on its appearance in Siena, Monte dei Paschi di Siena may seem like a small bank, it is Italy’s third largest after UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo. And today it consists of approximately 3,000 branches, 33,000 employees and 4,500,000 customers in Italy, as well as branches and businesses abroad. A subsidiary, MPS Finance, handles investment banking.

Oh, and it is publicly traded in case you want to own a piece of what you saw above.