When I first decided to pursue my Italian minor, I took an Italian women through literature class and the first Italian woman (Italian person in general) I learned about was Santa Caterina da Siena. I remember being so amazed by her life history and how (for lack of a better word) bad-ass she was for convincing Pope Gregory XI to leave Avignon and come back to Rome. Did I mention that she was a woman during the Middle Ages?totally not your average gal.
I was very excited to visit Siena because of the aforementioned reasons alone. My professor also told us that Siena is very contrada-oriented (rival districts, subdivisions in a town) with seventeen different contrade in the town itself. Siena is also very famous for having the oldest (surviving) bank in the world and housing Lorenzetti's Allegory of Good and Bad Government.
It was such a beautiful day in Siena! A group of girls decided to sun bathe on the steps of the duomo. Although it was a gorgeous exterior, Oriveto's still takes the cake.
The interior of the duomo was probably the most beautiful and intricate that I have seen. There was just so much going on and I am a sucker for striped patterns. I loved that Siena has four patron saints (Ansano, Savino, Crescenzio and Vittore) statues watching over the cathedral along with Saint Catherine. The cathedral also houses the famous works by Donatello (St. John the Baptist), Michelangelo (Saint Paul) and the frescoes of Pinturicchio (Piccolomini library) designed by Raphael.
The piccolomini library was extravagant. Perhaps a little too extravagant for me. The frescoes tell a history of Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who became Pope Pius II.
After the cathedral, we walked to the Palazzo Pubblico to see Lorenzetti's Allegory. I had no idea how destroyed most of the fresco was, but the parts that stayed intact were very interesting to see. This fresco was one of the first frescoes that discussed morals that were not pertaining to biblical/spiritual morals, but in this case, public, governmental morals to create a stable city life.
The Palazzo Pubblico was in the Piazza del campo, which was one of the biggest piazzas I've seen in Italy, which ought to be, considering that famous Siennese Palio (a biannual horse race where ten of the seventeen contrade compete) is located there.
Speaking of contrade, I was so taken aback by the idea of a modestly sized town with so many rivaling districts. At each district, there are square plaques that state where each contrada boundaries are. Our tour guide, who was in the Elephant Contrada (colors consisting of maroon, white and blue... whoop?) are rivals with the Goose Contrada (Saint Catherine's contrada, by the way) and the Dolphin Contrada considers the Elephants their rivals but not vice versa. It all sounds like college rivalries to me (A&M rivals with TU who are rivals with OU, etc etc)!
Another famous place in Siena is a pastry shop called Nannini's (after the famous singer) that supposedly has the best pastries in Italy. The really like the aesthetics of the shop and the atmosphere but honestly I've had better pastries at Le Perla in Castig. I will, however, admit that they have prettier pastries (which obviously matters - not kidding).
Doing a hairpose headstand inside the Santa Maria delle Scala Yurt. Don't ask why I am doing yoga or why I am in a yurt.
Siena was pretty rad. I loved trying to figure out where each contrada district ended and honestly the smaller towns (as compared to Rome, Venice and Florence) have been the best towns that we have visited (Orvieto, Assisi...) and have been very relaxing.
Here are some photos from our first girl's wine night (Wine Wednesdays)! We all got dressed up and enjoyed wine and stories. Of course, I am only drinking moscato.
"Love is the most necessary of all virtues. Love in the person who preaches the word of God is like fire in a musket. If a person were to throw a bullet with his hands, he would hardly make a dent in anything; but if the person takes the same bullet and ignites some gunpowder behind it, it can kill. It is much the same with the word of God. If it is spoken by someone who is filled with the fire of charity- the fire of love of God and neighbor- it will work wonders." - Catherine of Siena
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