Siena

Once upon a medieval time, Siena was Florence's archrival. It was a political and military powerhouse, a center for banking and trade, and with a population of 60,000, it had more residents than Paris.




In 1960, Siena was the first city in Europe to eliminate automibile traffic from its main square. The square and its buildings are the color of the soil they are built upon, known to artist and Crayola-users as "Burnt Sienna." 



We shared a picnic on the sunny square of "Il Campo", or what we called the "brick beach."

We loved these copper door panels to the church of St Catherine of Siena, a contemporary version of copper, church panels made popular by artists in Renaissance times.

(As true of so many historic places in Italy, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside of the church. So, you will have to come to Siena yourself to see Sophia and Josephine's favorite sight: the relic head of St. Catherine!)

 

                               We had fun exploring the steep and narrow streets of Siena,

where pedestrians have the pick of parking spots! 

We discovered one of the most amazing views we've seen so far of Tuscany from the roof of the Duomo museum, a trip worth every step of the spiral-stair, turret-climb to the top!

(As you can tell, Siena sits on top of a hill. It is just 35 miles from Florence, an easy day trip for us by bus or train.)

 Siena is full art, of course, elegant icons and scenes from its Renaissance heydays.

But for us, the masterpiece in Siena is its majestic Duomo!

The Duomo's Piccolomini Library is brilliantly frescoed and has never been restored. It helped us imagine what church life must have been like in Renaissance times: colorful and distracting!

Imagine singing hymns from this illuminated manuscript... 



...or peering upward from a pew and through this hole in the dome;





looking at the faces of 172 popes above a forest of giant, striped columns,

or bowing your head towards the inlaid marble art on the floor.



The oldest bank in Italy is in Siena, reminding us of its important past.

Although its population remains at 60,000 residents today (compared to the 420,000 in Florence), Siena continues to rival Florence as a favorite place to visit in Italy. After our visits to Siena this year, we can see why!