Siena - Santuario Cateriniano

A little way east of the Fonte Branda, in Via Santa Caterina, is the Sanctuary of St Catherine. St Catherine of Siena (1347-80), the daughter of a dyer named Benincasa, prevailed on Pope Gregory XI to return from Avignon to Rome in 1377. The best known of her visions was her "mystic marriage" to the Infant Christ, a favorite theme with painters. The fine Renaissance doorway has the Latin inscription "Sponsae Kristi Catherinae Domus" ("House of Catherine, Bride of Christ").