Siena.
Ok, here's my take on Sienna: Where Florence was dirty, Sienna is clean. Where Florence felt hostile, Sienna is friendly. Where Florence was expensive everywhere, Sienna is reasonable. Where Florence felt dangerous, I feel safe in Sienna. Where everything closes in Florence at night, Sienna comes to life.
Sienna is probably my favorite Italian city so far. It's clean, friendly, and very attractive. It's central piazza is actually very relaxing and a comfortable place to rest. It's Duomo has the most beautiful interior of any Church I've seen so far. Florence's Duomo was the most attractive on the outside, but the inside was stark and bare and ruined with random monuments which I didn't like at all. Sienna's was unified, ornate, and attractive, and those inlaid marble floors (which we just happened to see during the uncovered season) where a sight to behold. I've never seen anything quite like it.
Sienna is kind of like Assisi in that it has two sections of the town. It has the old town which is up on the hill and still resembles a medieval city, and it as the new section which surrounds the old one and is where most modern business takes place. The old section seems to dedicated mostly to tourism, pleasure trips, and consumer commerce. People do still live up there, but I don't think that there is any business left but shops. It is like old-town Manassas that way.
The Piazza Il Campo in the center of the old town is kind of like New York's time square. It's the center of everything and used to be the center of government for the town. All the best and most expensive shops on Il Campo and people from everywhere gather there to relax or shop or whatever they're up to. It's very nice usually. There's an outdoor chapel there that the people made in obedience to a vow made during the plague. Mass is celebrated there during the day so the shopkeepers on Il Campo don't have to leave there stores and stop work to attend mass.
Il Campo is also the location of a famous Siennese horse race that is held twice a year. Sienna is divided into 17 neighborhoods or contrada who compete for prestige in the race twice a year. They pick their jockeys and the horses are chosen by lots. They race three times around the square. The race is very fast and very cutthroat. The winning faction celebrates for months with parades and flag waving. They've been doing this for 800 years and it contributes to the neighborhood pride which contributes to the nice atmosphere that Sienna presents.
Another thing that contributes to this atmosphere is that Sienna is a very religious town, at least when compared to Florence or Rome. The entire city is dedicated to Our Lady nd nearly everything is named after her. The Siennese are proud of the fact that they have two homegrown saints and a Eucharistic miracle (which I got to see up close.)
In conclusion, Sienna is very nice and I wish that I had longer than one and a half days to explore it.
God Bless.
Sienna is probably my favorite Italian city so far. It's clean, friendly, and very attractive. It's central piazza is actually very relaxing and a comfortable place to rest. It's Duomo has the most beautiful interior of any Church I've seen so far. Florence's Duomo was the most attractive on the outside, but the inside was stark and bare and ruined with random monuments which I didn't like at all. Sienna's was unified, ornate, and attractive, and those inlaid marble floors (which we just happened to see during the uncovered season) where a sight to behold. I've never seen anything quite like it.
Sienna is kind of like Assisi in that it has two sections of the town. It has the old town which is up on the hill and still resembles a medieval city, and it as the new section which surrounds the old one and is where most modern business takes place. The old section seems to dedicated mostly to tourism, pleasure trips, and consumer commerce. People do still live up there, but I don't think that there is any business left but shops. It is like old-town Manassas that way.
The Piazza Il Campo in the center of the old town is kind of like New York's time square. It's the center of everything and used to be the center of government for the town. All the best and most expensive shops on Il Campo and people from everywhere gather there to relax or shop or whatever they're up to. It's very nice usually. There's an outdoor chapel there that the people made in obedience to a vow made during the plague. Mass is celebrated there during the day so the shopkeepers on Il Campo don't have to leave there stores and stop work to attend mass.
Il Campo is also the location of a famous Siennese horse race that is held twice a year. Sienna is divided into 17 neighborhoods or contrada who compete for prestige in the race twice a year. They pick their jockeys and the horses are chosen by lots. They race three times around the square. The race is very fast and very cutthroat. The winning faction celebrates for months with parades and flag waving. They've been doing this for 800 years and it contributes to the neighborhood pride which contributes to the nice atmosphere that Sienna presents.
Another thing that contributes to this atmosphere is that Sienna is a very religious town, at least when compared to Florence or Rome. The entire city is dedicated to Our Lady nd nearly everything is named after her. The Siennese are proud of the fact that they have two homegrown saints and a Eucharistic miracle (which I got to see up close.)
In conclusion, Sienna is very nice and I wish that I had longer than one and a half days to explore it.
God Bless.
posted by Andrew Stine at 3:56 PM
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