Cathedral of Siena – Wirelessly control LED light with ERCO

The Cathedral of Siena, with its characteristic facade clad in dark green and white marble, is one of Italy’s most important Gothic buildings and the symbol of the city. Inside the cathedral, visitors are amazed by the unique mosaic floor consisting of more than 50 ornately decorated marble surfaces. ERCO lighting tools illuminate these precious cultural treasures from a distance of over 25m. Modern LED and control technology enable the light to be simply controlled wirelessly via smartphone or tablet.

The Cathedral of Siena towers over the old town district on the square bearing the same name. The brick construction, clad in dark green and white marble, is one of the most important examples of Romanesque-Gothic architecture in Italy. The cathedral not only impresses worshippers and visitors by the size of its nave – one of the most magnificent art treasures is the mosaic floor with works of coloured marble in the interior. More than 50 panels with various inscriptions characterise the image of the cathedral and are a point of attraction for people from all over the world. Lighting designer Marco Nereo Rotelli was awarded the task of relighting this unique form of art on the floor and specified high precision ERCO lighting tools for the purpose

Light from a height of 25m The special challenge of the project lay in the installation height of the luminaires – over 25 metres. For such distances luminaires with high luminous flux and precise projecting optics are required, as only in this way can high illuminance levels be efficiently generated on the target surface. Stella spotlights with 2972lm and narrow spot light distribution of less than 10° are predestined for such lighting tasks. The marble surfaces are accentuated crisply and precisely with the significance of the surrounding areas receding into the background. A high-contrast display with museum character is thus created. The lighting designer Marco Nereo Rotelli deliberately specified a 3000K warm white light colour, not only to faithfully reproduce the warm colour tones of the marble but to also create a contemplative atmosphere.