Siena, Italy

 The Medieval Town of Siena

Siena, Italy is a beautiful medieval town located in Tuscany.  According to legend, Siena was founded by Senius, the son of Remus who was the brother of Romulus who founded Rome.  It is common to see statues of the shewolf suckling Romulus and Remus around the city of Siena. This town is a walled city composed of 17 different contradas, each represented by their own animal or mascot. Siena is considered a small town in Italy; the small town feel is very comforting to me and I love how safe the city feels and how close things are to each other within the city walls.  The culture in Siena is very inspiring and has made it to the top five of the European Most Cultural cities for the year 2019.

The hills in Siena provide a great calf workout.  The structures here are amazing!

The Duomo of Siena

 

The Piazza del Campo, shown above, is a major spot in Siena.  This is the location of not only town hall and the Torre del Mangia, but is also the race track for the Palio di Siena, a horse race held twice a year.  The Palio is the main competition for the contradas in Siena. Ten contradas compete in the horse race; seven switch off year to year, and the remaining three are drawn at random.  Horses are trained especially for this race; the horse that makes three laps around the Piazza del Campo and crosses the finish line first wins (it doesn't matter if the jockey is still mounted or not).  To win the Palio is a great honor for the contradas and is followed by celebration and dinner, where the guest of honor is none other than the horse.  However, the Palio is a very dangerous event; the track is very treacherous and hard on the horses.  Many horses are injured and the jockeys, who ride bareback, are often hurt very badly as well.  This is one of the major medieval traditions that has remained strong in Siena.

Each contrada has its own museum, church, and set of Parliament

These silk banners are presented to the winner of the Palio each year

 

The Piazza del Campo also has the Torre del Mangia, shown above.  This tower can be climbed to see a great view of the city of Siena as well as the extending Tuscan countryside. The staircase to get to the top is extremely narrow and steep, but the view once you make it is absolutely breathtaking.

View of outside the city walls; the Tuscan countryside

They say that the world is a book, and those that do not travel read only a page.  I know that for me, my chapter of living in Italy is going to be one of my favorites.  Getting the opportunity to live the culture here is absolutely amazing and I am so blessed to be having this study abroad experience.