Seeing Siena
Our group’s second day together consisted of a bus ride into the historical, walled nearby city of Siena. Seen at the beginning of the new James Bond flick “Quantum of Solace”, it resonates age. Siena is what I like to think of as a typical Italian city- narrow roads made of cobblestone that go up and down (tourists huff and puff while being passed by the ancient, no toothed Italian gentlemen), and houses perched on the sides of hills- very fairytale-like. Within the walled city sits a vast amount of history. Settled by the Etruscans in 900 to 400 BC. legend has it that Siena was founded by Senius, son of Remus, who was in turn brother to Romulus, after whom Rome was named. in The city itself is divided into contrada, or districts, whom have their own identity. All told there are 17 of these districts- Tower, Caterpillar, Snail, Porcupine, Owl,Giraffe, Lecorno, Lupa, Dragon, Ram, Shell, Goose, Wave, Panther, Forest, Turtle and Eagle.
The Palio di Siena is a race held every year in which ten of the seventeen districts compete twice a year (July 2 and August 16). The race involves clearing out the town’s square, bringing in dirt and placing it to form an oval- those lucky enough to own an apartment overlooking the “square” itself can sit on their balconies for a bird’s eye-view. Some sixty thousand will fill the square as well as the tables at the local eateries outside of the race. Horses with jockeys riding bareback circle the Piazza del Campo three times, with the race itself lasting for no longer than 90 seconds. The prize for this race is a hand painted one of a kind silk flag with the winning contrada earning the right to display it in their district’s hall.This is serious stuff in Siena and not to be taken lightly. The contrada spend untold amounts of money on the horses and jockeys in an effort to win.
In addition to the square and the race (we didn’t see the race but did see the square) we saw the Duomo, the greatest example of Gothic architecture which was started in the 12th century. It is unmistakeably Moorish in influence and looms over the town. This also happens to be one of those things that will go onto my “Wish I Would Have” list as I did not climb the stairs up to the top, but now that I am home wish I would have. If you get the chance to do it, don’t miss out- the views are supposed to be amazing.Inside the Cathedral houses stunning frescoes, mosaic floors, a beautiful pulpit as well as an amazing library. The frescoes in the Piccolomini Library tell the story of the life of Siena’s cardinal Enia Silvio Piccolomini, who eventually became Pope Pius II.
Across the road from the Duomo sits the museum (former hospital) of Santa Maria della Scala. Founded by the Cathedral’s priests to house the pilgrims coming from France and northern Europe,. It also supported and cared for the poor as well as abandoned children.
The most revered church there is actually a basilica- the Basilica of San Domenico (also known as Basilica Cateriniana) which houses the head and thumb of Saint Catherine. The rest of her body is housed in a Basilica in Rome called Santa Maria sopra Minerva nearby the Pantheon. (Incidentally it is the Basilica that was around the corner from our apartment in Rome- but that’s another story). Saint Catherine was deified for the part she played in getting the Papal seat moved to Italy from France. After a day of trying to understand what it would be like to actually have that much history in our own lives, we tiredly climbed into our bus to head back to our hotel for a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow- Florence!
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