Page 394 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Europe

392  IT AL Y AND GREECE

Exploring Siena

Once a capital to rival Florence, Siena is still unspoiled and
endowed with the grandeur of the age in which it was at its
peak (1260–1348). The magnificent Duomo is one of Italy’s
greatest cathedrals. The best place to begin an exploration
of the historic city center is Piazza del Campo and the
surrounding maze of medieval streets. Siena’s hilly position
means that walks through the city are rewarded with
countless sudden views of the surrounding countryside.

exterior of the Duomo, Massacre of the Innocents, a detail from the
including a tondo Duomo’s marble floor
(circular relief) of a
Madonna and Child, of a chapel dedicated to her
probably by Donatello. in this huge, barn-like Gothic
The highlight is Duccio’s church. Built in 1460, the chapel
huge altarpiece, Maestà is dominated by Sodoma’s
(1308–11), which depicts frescoes (1526), which show
the Madonna and Child Catherine in states of religious
on one side, and Scenes fervor. The church has the
from the Life of Christ on only portrait of St. Catherine
the other. considered authentic, painted
by her friend Andrea Vanni.
E Pinacoteca St. Catherine’s house, the
Nazionale Casa di Santa Caterina, is also
Via San Pietro 29. Tel 0577-28 a popular shrine for visitors
61 43. Open daily. Closed to Siena.
Sun & Mon pm, Jan 1, May 1,
Richly decorated facade of Siena’s Duomo Dec 25. & 7 + Fortezza Medicea
Housed in the Palazzo Viale Maccari. Fortezza: Open Mon–
R Duomo Buonsignori, this gallery Sat. Enoteca Italiana: Piazza Libertà 1.
Piazza del Duomo. Tel 0577-28 30 48. contains an unsurpassed Tel 0577-22 88 11. Open noon–1am
Open daily. Closed Sun am. Museo collection of paintings by Mon–Sat. &
dell’Opera del Duomo: Tel 0577-28 30 artists of the Sienese School. This huge red-brick fortress
48. Open Mar–May: 9:30am–7pm Highlights include Duccio’s was built by Cosimo I in 1560,
daily; Jun–Aug: 9:30am–8pm daily; Madonna dei Francescani (1285) following Siena’s defeat by
Sep & Oct: 9:30am–7pm daily; Nov– and Simone Martini’s The Blessed Florence in the 1554–5 war.
Feb: 10am–5pm daily. Closed Jan 1, Agostino Novello and Four of his After an 18-month siege, during
Dec 25. &
Miracles (c.1330). which more than 8,000 Sienese
Siena’s cathedral (1136–1382) is died, the town’s banking and
a spectacular example of Pisan- R San Domenico wool industries were suppressed
influenced Romanesque- Piazza San Domenico. Open daily. by the Florentines.
Gothic architecture. Had the The preserved head of the city’s The fortress now houses
14th-century plan to create a patroness, St. Catherine of Siena the Enoteca Italiana, where
new nave come to fruition, it (1347–80), can be seen in a you can taste and buy
would have become the largest gilded tabernacle on the altar Italian wines.
church in Christendom, but the
idea was abandoned when the
Black Death of 1348 virtually The Palio
halved the city’s population. The Palio is Tuscany’s most celebrated festival
Among the Duomo’s treasures and it occurs in the Campo each year on July 2
are sculptural masterpieces by and August 16. This bareback horse race was first
Nicola Pisano, Donatello, and recorded in 1283, but it may have had its origins
Michelangelo, a fine inlaid in Roman military training. The jockeys represent
marble floor, and a magnificent Siena’s 17 contrade (districts) and the horses are
fresco cycle by Pinturicchio. chosen by the drawing of lots. Preceded by
In the side aisle of the days of colorful pageantry and heavy
unfinished nave, which has betting, the races themselves last
been roofed over, is the Museo only 90 seconds each, the Drummer taking part
dell’Opera del Duomo. The winner being rewarded with in the Palio’s noisy
a silk palio (banner).
museum is devoted mainly to pre-race pageant
sculpture removed from the
For hotels and restaurants see pp438–40 and pp441–3

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