Sunday, February 22, 2009

Siena, Italy

We could not find any hostels in Siena so stayed at a guest house just outside one of the city gates. It was a huge house with large rooms filled with antique furniture, spotlessly clean but freezing cold as the old radiator heaters were too small to heat such big rooms.

Siena was originally an Etruscan town and according to a book in our guest house, Etruscans had slanted eyes and long thin noses, and if we looked closely we would be able to spot their descendants. It was surprising how many slanted eyes and long thin noses I could spot.

The book also said Siena is famous for two things, the Palio (horse race) and the contrade. The horse race is run on July 2nd and August 16th each year in the Piazza del Campo. The Campo is the shell-shaped main square. Seventeen city neighbourhoods vie for the trophy which is a painted flag, or Palio which bears an image of the Virgin Mary. The Campo was very quiet when we were there. Only one restaurant had tables out for diners and no one was lingering in the cold wind for very long. A sign posted near the fountain laid out the laws of the use of the Campo:
There was to be no sitting on anything that was not a seat.
There was to be no lying down and no eating.
Every photo we have seen of the Campo shows people doing all those things in the summer.

The Campo

The contrade, or neighbourhoods originally had administrative and military functions but are now areas of localised patriotism. Each contrada has its own museum, fountain and baptismal font, and motto. Baptisms, deaths, marriages, church holidays, victories at the Palio, even wine or food festivals are celebrated only within one's own contrada.

Everywhere there are statues of a she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, the town's emblem. According to legend, Siena was founded by Remus's son Senius.

The Siena Cathedral was covered in scaffolding but it was interesting to see the details of some of the carved pillars.