In Terza di Camollia -- Siena's northern third spreads off either side of the palace-lined Via Banchi di Sopra. Two blocks up on the left is the oldest Gothic palace in the city, the Palazzo Tolomei, begun in 1208 and now home to the Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze bank. The piazza out front is where the city council met from the 11th century until the Palazzo Pubblico was built. Two blocks farther is the piazza formed by the Gothic Palazzo Salimbeni and its tributary palaces, linked to form the seat of the Monte di Paschi di Siena, Siena's powerhouse bank founded in 1472 and still a strong player in Italian finance (and the city's largest employer).