Historic Cities · Italy
Siena through the ages
Siena is a city in the region of Tuscany in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. With a population of 53,180, it is the 12th-largest city in the region.
Siena in 1340
Siena of the Nine
Siena in 1340 is the commune of the Nine at the height of its power, rich from wool, salt and moneylending and erecting great civic works. The walk moves from the city's approaches through its gates and banking streets to the shell of the Campo, the rising Torre del Mangia, the striped cathedral and the scaffolds and trenches of the vast Duomo Nuovo.
Low hilltops and a dense ring of stone walls enclose a city of terracotta roofs, red brick piazzas and sharp bands of black-and-white marble at the cathedral. The Palazzo Pubblico's ochre brick faces the shell-shaped Campo paved in nine segments; beside it a tall masonry tower climbs in newwork. Narrow lanes of worn stone open to small plazas and fountains; wooden scaffold, canvas awnings and wool bales punctuate the streets, while pilgrims and clerks move beneath the same clear Tuscan light.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Approach from Val d'Arbia → Porta Camollia → Via Banchi di Sopra → Palazzo Tolomei → Piazza del Campo → Market at the Campo → Palazzo Pubblico Front → Torre del Mangia → Via di Città → Via Banchi di Sotto → …
Step inside — 13 interiors
Banker's Counting Room · Notary's Office · Tolomei Great Hall · Loggia of Wool Sellers · Sala dei Nove · Bell Chamber · Wool Merchant's Workshop · Franciscan Chapter House · Inlaid Marble Pavement · Pisano Pulpit · Pilgrim Ward · Hospital Apothecary · Fontebranda Vault
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Republic of Siena.
Siena in 1750
Palio Siena
Siena in 1750 is a tightly held medieval city that stages its civic life as festival: the Palio is the city's public drama, its streets, flags and rival wards made visible by the race. This walk moves from the clay hills that surround Siena, through its gates and winding lanes, into the shell of Piazza del Campo and up to the fortress ramparts that look over the crete.
The skyline is a tight cluster of red-brown tile roofs and crenellated brick palaces interrupted by the white-and-green bands of the Duomo and the tall brick shaft of the Torre del Mangia. Streets are narrow, paved with worn stone and pierced by small piazzette; façades are brick and local creta stone, painted shutters and contrada banners. On Palio days the Campo is covered with a thick ring of earth, drums and flag-wavers fill the lanes, and the surrounding hills show olive groves, vineyards and the pale clay of the Val d'Arbia.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Crete Senesi Approach → Porta Romana → Fontebranda → Piazza San Domenico → Via Banchi di Sotto → Piazza Tolomei → Via di Città → Piazza del Campo (South) → Fonte Gaia → Palazzo Pubblico → …
Step inside — 14 interiors
Porta Romana Inn · Tanners' Vault at Fontebranda · Chapel of Saint Catherine · Contrada Oratory · Sala del Consiglio · Bellringers' Chamber · Contrada Feast Hall · Covered Market Hall · Monte Counting House · Piccolomini Library · Cathedral Nave · Baptistery Octagonal Hall · Hall of Pellegrini · Fortress Barracks
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Palio di Siena.
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