Italy:
Siena Italy:
Siena
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We finally made it to Siena on this trip. Siena is a nice town and small enough to walk through all of it. We found good food and good wine and enjoyed wandering down unknown streets just to see what was there. The climb to the top of the bell tower of the Town Hall is well worth it as it provides wonderful views of the city and Tuscan country side. |
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| Town Hall: On the south side of the Piazza del Campo in Siena is the Palazzo Púbblico (Town Hall), an imposing Gothic building of travertine and brick (1288-1309). The climbed the steps to the top where we had great views of the city and countryside. | |||||
Climbing the tower to the top
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| Piazza Del Campo: This is the main plaza in Siena and the location of the Pailo Horse Race in July and August where horses and riders race 3 laps around the square. We actually missed the race by one day; the race was the day after we left for Rome. The plaza is lined with restaurants and is a great place to relax and have lunch or dinner although prices are a bit more expensive here. | |||||
From the top of the tower
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| Views: Most of these photos were taken from the top of the Town Hall tower. | |||||
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Duomo: The medieval Cathedral of Siena, dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church and now to Santa Maria Assunta (Our Lady of Assumption), is the seat of the Archbishop of Siena-Colle di Val d'Elsa-Montalcino. The cathedral itself was originally designed and completed between 1215 and 1263 on the site of an earlier structure. It has the form of a Latin cross with a slightly projecting transept, a dome and a bell tower. The dome rises from an octagonal base with supporting columns. The lantern atop the dome, was added by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The nave is separated from the two aisles by semicircular arches. The exterior and interior are constructed of white and greenish-black marble in alternating stripes, with addition of red marble on the façade. Black and white are the symbolic colors of Siena, detiologically linked to black and white horses of the legendary city's founders, Senius and Aschius. |
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Exterior
Mosaic Floor: The inlaid marble mosaic floor is one of the most ornate of its kind in Italy, covering the whole floor of the cathedral. This undertaking went on from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, and about forty artists made their contribution. The floor consists of 56 panels in different sizes. Most have a rectangular shape, but the later ones in the transept are hexagons or rhombuses. They represent the sibyls, scenes from the Old Testament, allegories and virtues. Most are still in their original state. The earliest scenes were made by a graffito technique: drilling tiny holes and scratching lines in the marble and filling these with bitumen or mineral pitch. In a later stage black, white, green, red and blue marble intarsia were used. This technique of marble inlay also evolved during the years, finally resulting in a vigorous contrast of light and dark, giving it an almost modern, impressionistic composition.
Library: Adjoining the cathedral is the Piccolomini library, housing precious illuminated choir books and frescoes painted by the Umbrian Bernardino di betto, called Pinturicchio, probably based on designs by Raphael. 
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| Around the Town: Various photos from around the town. | |||||
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Moped corral, dog store, window and door
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Basilica Cateriniana Di St Domenico:
The church was begun in 1226-1265, but was enlarged in the 14th century to the Gothic appearance it has now. It is a large edifice built, like many contemporary edifice of the mendicant orders, in bricks, with a lofty bell tower on the left (this was reduced in height after an earthquake in 1798). The interior is on the Egyptian cross plan with a huge nave covered by trusses and with a transept featuring high chapels. A smaller St. Catherine Chapel located within contains an altar housing the saint's head. |
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| Basilica di San Francesco | |||||
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Sanctuary of St. Catherine: The steep
descent of Via Santa Caterina leads to the Sanctuary and House of St
Catherine, which has become a popular place of pilgrimage. The house of
the saint was converted into a sanctuary in 1464 and today contains a
number of documents and paintings related to her.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine is a Christian saint and martyr who is claimed to have been a noted scholar in the early 4th century. In the beginning of the fifteenth century, it was rumored that she had spoken to Saint Joan of Arc. The Orthodox Churches venerate her as a "great martyr," and in the Roman Catholic Church, she is traditionally revered as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. |
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| Food: Ravioli and Calzone. | |||||
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| Fountains: Once of the many public drinking fountains around the town. | |||||
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| Horse: Wooden horses of an art show. | |||||
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| Lunch: Once day at lunch on the main Piazza we were entertained by this man who would play jokes on the tourists as they walked by. He was actually quite entertaining. | |||||
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| Owl | |||||
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| Park: The large park located inside the town walls of Siena. | |||||
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Monterigionni and Sunflowers: The tiny Medieval village of Monteriggioni was built by the Senese at the beginning of the 13th century as a defense outpost against the attacks of the Florentines. For this reason it has the aspect of a fortress and is completely surrounded by 14 towers and strong walls. Inside the walls stands a beautiful Parish in Romanesque-Gothic style.
These photos were taken from the bus as we passed the town close to the city of Siena. We also passed many fields of sunflowers. |
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