SIENA
siena was founded as a roman military settlement in the 1st century A.D. situated on the main pilgrimage route from western europe to rome, it developed in the middle ages into an economic crossroads, and by the 13th century was a town of some size. its bad fortune was to be situated too close to florence, and soon the two towns battled for economic and political supremacy in the region. siena lost. But that loss allowed it to preserve much of its medieval character intact, and siena is now known mainly as a town for students.
My hotel room gave a perfect look
over the rooftops of siena.
siena's best known sight is the scallop-shaped
town square or piazza,
surrounded by medieval buidings and dominated by the high-towered town hall.
the facade of a medieval building and of A fountain on this piazza.
inside the town hall are numerous medieval frescoes by famous artists.
This one, from the 14th century and
by Simone Martini,
shows a Sienese nobleman returning from war.
These are details
from the same huge fresco, also from the 14th century and by Ambrogio Lorenzetti,
showsing symbolic scenes of good government: opulent and well maintained buildings,
happy citizens, and robust agriculture in the surrounding countryside (a fresco
across the room, now badly damaged, shows the effects of bad government: buildings
in disrepair, bandits among the citizens, and neglected fields).
Throughout the old town of siena, there is evidence of the wealth that existed,
at the end of the middle ages, in the beautiful mansions, called palazzi.
siena's cathedral was built in the 13th century.
on display in one of the churches is siena's most famous saint, catherine of
siena. catherine lived a truly bizarre life in the 14th century. she refused
to marry, as her parents wished her to, but lived a nun's existence out of her
parents' home. she ate little, and when her parents forced her to eat more,
she stuffed twigs into her throat to make herself vomit. (whenever she was tempted
to overeat, she would lick the wounds of the lepers she nursed to discourage
herself from it.) eventually she experienced visions, including one in which
she was married to christ, and others of heaven, hell, and purgatory. she wrote
about her visions, and also wrote letters to the pope and other church officials,
passing along advice from christ. at the age of 33 she refused food altogether,
and starved to death in 1380. in 1461 she was proclaimed a saint by a pope who
was from siena.
that pope was pius II, and in a chapel in the cathedral are a number of renaissance frescoes depicting scenes from his life:
on the left, the marriage of his parents,
and on the right, the young
man leaves as a delegate for the church council of Basel.
on the left, the man as pope proclaims
an unsuccessful crusade against
the Turks, and on the right, he declares Catherine of Siena a saint.
