Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Stunning |
| Disadvantages: |
Missed the Palio - steep climb to old town |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
Siena is probably most famous for the Palio - the psychotic, twice-yearly dash around Il Campo, the heart of this ancient, walled city. I'm sure most people are familiar with the carnival atmosphere generated during this frenetic, hell-for-leather race around the cobbles, but unfortunately the timing of our visit didn't coincide with the medieval equivalent of Whacky Races on sulph. Never mind.
The old town of Siena is built on and around three hills, and is completely free from traffic. Visitors have to park in one of several car parks outside the walls and proceed on foot. It's not a long walk, but it IS a steep walk. There are shuttle buses that run between the car parks and the town gates but, if you're like me and think impatience is a virtue, you can very-near kill yourself slogging up the practically vertical slope in sweltering heat.
Heh, still got there before the bus, but!
On entering the town, we were immediately swallowed up by the crowds thronging in the labyrinth of narrow streets - it was pretty busy, but not as bad as Florence had been. there was still enough space to keep it from feeling claustrophobic. The streets all seem to curve around the elliptic Campo, which is quite disorientating, but everything's well signposted and easy to find.
Nothing quite prepares you for Il Campo. It should feel familiar as it's been filmed and photographed to death, but the camera sometimes lies. We entered from the upper side - the scallop of the shell if you like. This means that our first site of the Camapanile was framed from the top of some steps through a narrow alley. descending into the piazza was like entering a stadium...an arena even. All that was missing was the cheers!
Il Campo slopes quite dramatically - it's said that it resembles a shell lying at an angle. It's an unusual piazza, and possibly one of the most beautiful in
Italy. It was first laid out in the 1100's on the site of the Roman Forum and consists of a herringbone Siena brick pattern which is divided by white marble lines forming nine sections - these represents the city's medieval ruling body, the Council of Nine. Apparently, the design (especially the slope) of Il Campo is all very deliberate and is down the the city's water system.
There are a large number of restaurants and cafes lining the upper, curved part of the piazza, and some souvenir stalls dotted around, but these don't overwhelm the space. It would be difficult for them to do so anyway as the piazza is huge!
The streets to the north-west of the piazza are home to some interesting shops. Mostly antiques and art-n-craft, there are also designer clothes and all the other fashion items one would associate with Italy. However, my budget stretches more towards the cheap trinket end of the shopping scale, so we didn't linger too long. We were on our way to the Duomo anyway.
The Duomo lies at the highest point in the city, but luckily the climb up from the car park had only whetted my appetite for strenuous exertion. It's worth the climb though. Constructed in multi-coloured marble, it's more like a piece of elaborate confectionery than a place of worship - it's absolutely stunning and almost unreal. The Cathedral was never completely finished as the effects of the Black Death in 1348 'depressed' the construction industry somewhat. If it had been completed, it would be the largest cathedral in the world, apparently. The interior is no less so, although the marble inside is a more sedate black and white. One of the most impressive features is the ceiling where 172 popes watch over you.
Siena's Duomo is considered one of the most beautiful in the country so it's no surprise that there are lengthy queues waiting to gain admission. However, waiting in line was no great hardship when the surroundings were so stunning.
After that it was lunch-time so, against all advice, we headed back to Il Campo. Supposedly the restaurants there are tourist-traps and vastly overpriced. We didn't find that to be the case at all. Certainly, they're not exactly cheap, but prices compared favourably with eating out in the UK (not that that would be difficult).
Siena is in the heart of Chianti country, but as liver and fava beans wasn't on the menu, and Belgian beer was, I had a nice ale and ate my lamb quietly...
From our table we overlooked the dizzyingly tall Campanile (the second highest medieval tower in Tuscany) towering over the magnificent Palazzo Publico (town hall). Just as that was starting to get tedious, a wedding party exited the town hall and were greeted by the band.
Oh, I didn't mention the band, did I?
Yes indeed, a brass band from the Netherlands had been merrily trumpeting away while we were eating. I hadn't mentioned it earlier as brass band from the Low Countries seemed so very commonplace in Siena's Campo...
Anyway, as the happy couple stepped into the piazza, the band started to play that wedding song from The Godfather whereupon practically everyone in the vast amphitheatre of Il Campo spontaneously burst into song and la-la'd along. You can't buy moments like that!
We would have liked to spend a bit more time in Siena, but time was something we didn't have. On the bright side, this means that, with a bit of luck, we can return one day.
©proxam2005
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