Siena
The City is universally known for its historical, artistic, landscape and heritage for her substantial stylistic unity of urban furniture medieval as well as for the famous Palio .
Piazza del Campo is the main square of the town of Siena . Unique for its unusual and original Shell, is renowned worldwide for its beauty and architectural integrity, and as the place where twice a year there is the Palio di Siena. The shape of the square is a beautiful shell shells resembling inclined towards retinal, noon, with nine segments defined by white bands on the terracotta flooring. Enclosed by near-continuous curtain of buildings, there are eleven gates, cleverly masked by the use of the time and the layering of the settlement. The centerpiece of the entire square is the palazzo Pubblico, terminating scenically space downstream and towards which converge all Visual lines, gradients, and curtains Floorcovering, enhancing the symbolic value. The Town Hall is the Palace built by the Government of the Republic of Siena between 1298 and 1310 as a seat of Government of the nine . The stone was used, but not the brick, while the white elements are in marble. Each window is adorned with a nose cone that contains it. The Blackbirds are a Guelph. The Torre del Mangia was the Bell Tower of the Town Hall and is named as "mangiaguadagni" given his first keeper Giovanni di Balduccio, famous to appreciate the pleasures of food and waste then at the table their earnings. Is one of the highest Italian, 102 ancient towers metres until the lightning rod (second only to the Torrazzo of Cremona). It was built between 1325 and 1348. The four corners are perfectly geared towards N-S and E-w. The Cappella di Piazza is a marble Tabernacle located at the foot of the Torre del Mangia, overhangs the profile of the Town Hall. It was built in 1352 to thank the Virgin Mary of the narrow escape of the black plague that struck the city in 1348. Over the altar, between 1537 and 1539, Giovanni Antonio Bazzi said Sodoma frescoed the Madonna with the son and God the father, whose remains retain today in the Civic Museum in the Palazzo Pubblico. The Fonte Gaia was opened in 1386 in the General joy for the first public source town (hence the name "Gaia"), was decorated between 1409 and 1419 from statues and reliefs by Jacopo della Quercia, original synthesis of Gothic tradition and Renaissance innovations.
Piazza del Campo
The Palio: The square is also famous because it accommodates twice a year, on 2 July and 16 August, the Palio delle Contrade . It is a unique horse race that sees confront the seventeen contrade historical composing the Tuscan city. The race consists of three laps around the track surrounding the square, paved with slabs of pietra serena, which is covered with a layer of dust of Tuff of appropriate thickness, that allow the horses to run, not without blatant slips at curves. The race, which takes place so fast, furious and often without reserves of cheap shots, sometimes bloody, leads to victory one contrada. Key ingredients for a "perfect" Palio "are the couple formed by the horse and its Jockey that each contrada manages to put together a vital dose of luck and a crowd always excited and involved.
il Palio
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta is the main place of worship Catholic of Siena, built in a Romanesque-Gothic Italian, is one of the most significant churches built in this style in Italy. Among the most important works within we can definitely quote:
· the two holy water fonts in white Carrara marble , fine works of Antonio Federighi dating from the 1458 and the 1467 ;
· the pulpit that was made by Nicola Pisano in the period between 1265 and the 1268 it is one of the jewels of the Cathedral, and one of the most important sculptures of the art Two hundred Italian. Octagonal plan and an architectural structure move and articulated with various rounded and figurines in place of the columns at the top;
· the altare Piccolomini was commissioned to Andrea Bregno by the cardinal Archbishop of Siena Francesco Piccolomini , then Pope Pius III . Andrea Bregno built the altar in Carrara marble among the 1481 and the 1485 However , leaving the work without the 16 statues and the central altar. Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini tried long artists who could complete the work, encountering Pietro Torrigiani; However, only released on St. Francis at the top left. In 1501 the cardinal commissioned therefore supplementation to a young Michelangelo, which between 1501 and 1504 he executed four statues for the smaller niches: Saint Peter and Saint Pius left, Saint Paul and Saint Gregory the great on the right;
· the chapel of San Giovanni Battista, where in the Central niche, there is the the famous bronze statue of St John the Baptist , sculpted by Donatello in 1455 .
Duomo di Siena
altare Piccolomini
pulpito
Siena can boast a myriad of beautiful historic buildings built since 1400 until the early 1900s and some beautiful historical fountains still in use.
Siena has a long culinary tradition, due perhaps to the richness of the medieval period and the presence of numerous Inns and hospitality points along the via Francigena. In addition to the world famous wine like Chianti Sienese cuisine are sure to be the most famous pici and the delicious pig meat "cinta senese", in addition to the famous sweets as ricciarelli or panforte.
