Siena….Put This One On Your List!
2007 November 4
I kicked around Siena for 6 days last week….and it wasn’t enough.
This place is a jewel…and a place I will re-visit often.
Let me give you a little background:
Sienna was once an ancient Etruscan town and later a Roman one with the name of Siena Iulia. It occupied a strategic position, and over time developed vast importance because it was a major financial center….becoming bigger population- wise than Rome.
The 13th and 14th centuries were its golden era, and the city became full of monuments and works of art.
The year 1348 changed all that. the Plague wiped out the city, killing more than half of the population, and with it all its dreams. It remained an independent republic until 1555 when it became part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany,and by 1860 became part of the Italian state.
Today it is a tiny town of 60,000, but a profoundly beautiful one, virtually intact from days gone by.
Sienese consider their dialect to be the real Italian, with many Latin-stemmed words at the root.
Siene cuisine is excellent; their “pasta”…all of it handmade, it terrific,and many dishes are mushroom based, ragu based, or meat based. Fish is tough to come by, but there are enough vegetable offerings to satisfy non meat eaters.
There are three main attractions…among the many that you should see.
First, there is the Piazza il Campo…an enormous area ringed by shops and restaurants where you can sit, have a cappuccino and enjoy yourself immensely. In the Middle Ages this was the heart of the city. a meeting place for the population for celebrations and events. As a matter of fact, every year on July 2 and again on August 16 is the Palio…a horse race proceeded by a historic parade, replete with Medieval costumes that is wonderful to experience.
At one end of the Campo is the Torre del Mangia….a huge tower owing its name to the bell-ringer (his name was Mangialguafagni) who in 1347 was in charge of ringing the bell to sound the hours. 400 steps leads top the top of the tower, 87 meters high!
Thus, the Piazza il Campo is the prime site to visit.
Then, of course, you can visit perhaps the most magnificent cathedral in all of Europe….Il Duomo do Siena.
The Duomo dominates the square with its covering of white-black marble and its Romanesque-Gothic facade.
Here you will find the works of the most important Italian sculptors of the Middle Ages. Nicolola Pisano, Donatello, Michelangelo, Gian Lorenzo Bernini to name a few.
Inside the chapel, the flooring is a gigantic work of art all by itself…something to view in awe. The Chapel of the Vow,, which every Sienese still goes to this day, is the most beautiful chapel that I have ever seen.
The choir seats, behind the main altar…all hand carved…blew me away.
All in all, I have been fortunate in my life to have visited almost all of Europe’s most famous cathedrals….and this one is now at the top of my list.
If at all possible, put Sienna on your “to do” list!
Alfred’s Score: A perfect 10 of 10.
