Do you remember that color in your box of crayons called “Burnt Siena”? Maybe not, but that color comes from the color of the buildings made from the clay taken from the surrounding hills.
Siena, a walled hill-town city in Tuscany, has all of the medieval magnificence of Florence on a smaller scale. What it lacks in blockbuster museums it makes up for in charm. Florence and Siena were fierce medieval rivals until the Black Plague decimated the city of Siena in the 1340s, dropping the population from about 70,000 down to about 40,000. The plague relegated Siena to a backwater power, meaning that the buildings in the city center were largely unchanged. To preserve the character of the town, changes to the facades of buildings are highly regulated. For the folks who live in Siena that can be a challenge, but it means we can see the city in its original state.
The city center is made up of stone streets and neighborhoods that surround the Il Campo, the home of the famous horse race, The Palio. Every summer, dirt is brought in and each of the 17 neighborhoods (contrade) is represented by a horse and jockey that race around the Il Campo for bragging rights for the year. Three times around the square for an average of 70 seconds decides the winner. The lead-up to the race is huge and our waiter the very first night referenced the Palio as if everyone should know what it was and who won this year.
Siena has its own massive and beautiful Duomo that includes a sculpture by Michaelangelo. When Siena learned about the construction of the huge cathedral in Florence, they decided to try to expand their own cathedral, but the Black Plague thwarted their efforts and that part of the cathedral remains unfinished today. The Siena Duomo is beautiful and worth a long visit. The mosaics on the floor are amazing but are covered various times of the year to protect and preserve them. We were lucky enough to see all of the mosaics, a couple side chapels and the upper crofts of the nave where we could look down a couple hundred feet for a different perspective.
When I was growing up I was confirmed in the Catholic church and chose St. Catherine of Siena as my patron saint. I remember choosing her because I thought she cared for the lepers, but honestly, I think I just liked the name and made the leper part up. With improved reading comprehension skills as an adult (and Wikipedia), I learned that she is actually known for convincing the Pope to return to Italy from France. Lepers, papal influence, same-same? Her retreat in Siena is off a little side street. Peaceful, decorated in a somewhat muted style, you can see how it was a place of deep contemplation for St. Catherine and acolytes in this space.
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