Siena city – One of the Best Place for Tourism in Italy

About Siena city

Siena, a city in central Italy, in the region of Toscana (Tuscany). It is about 30 kilometers (48) south of Florence. The city was historically important as a trading and banking city until it was conquered by Florence in the 13-14th century.

Siena was once an Etruscan settlement that later became the Roman city of Sena Julia. The city ended, but the new Siena that grew up later expanded under the Lombard kings. In the 12th century, it became an independent city. Economic conflicts and territorial disputes with anti-imperial Florence, or Guelph, made Siena the center of pro-imperial Ghibellinism in Tuscany. The Sienese reached a political breakthrough on September 1. 4, 1260, when their army defeated the Florentines in the battle of Montaperti.

Siena became an important banking center in the 13th century but could not compete with Florence. The cause of the empire declined, and the pope imposed an economic embargo on the Ghibelline merchants of Siena. Soon after that, Siena itself became Guelph and the Ghibelline leaders lost part of its power.

The city suffered from the wars and famines and general economic depression that hit Italy in the early 14th century, and was devastated by the outbreak of the Black Death, which began in 1348. Struggle for governance among elites, merchants, and commoners. replaced the conflict between the Guelphs and Ghibellines but did little to give Siena internal stability. In spite of these problems, the Sienese continued to enjoy sufficient prosperity that allowed them to decorate their city with beautiful churches, towers, towers and fountains.

In the decades of economic and moral depression following the black death, Siena entered a period of intense religiousness, during which the city produced two famous saints, Catherine and Bernardino. Siena retained its independence throughout the 15th century, but economic decline continued. In 1487, Pandolfo Petrucci, an exiled politician, took power and ruled brutally during French and Spanish invasions until his death in 1512.

His family continued to rule it until 1524. After a long and brave defense, Siena surrendered to the Spanish in 1555, two years later, Philip II of Spain surrendered the city to Florence. In 1861 Siena, along with the rest of Tuscany, entered the new Kingdom of Italy.

Since the construction of Siena was suspended in the 16th century and most of the modern constructions took place outside the city walls, the original character of Siena is still intact and Siena is still an ancient city. Walls and gates surround the city center of narrow, winding streets and ancient buildings and palaces. The city center is dominated by a large shell-like square called Piazza del Campo, which is the center of Siena’s urban life.

Tourists flock to Siena to see the Corsa del Palio, a famous horse race of ancient origins that takes place twice a year in Piazza del Campo amid colorful festivities. Standing next to the square is the large Public Palace (Palazzo Pubblico; 1297-1310), which is the seat of the city’s government. The interior is decorated with works by the great masters of Sienese painting, including “Maestà” by Simone Martini and frescoes by Ambrogio Lorenzetti.

The palace also has the remains of the Fountain of Gaia, which is one of the most beautiful fountains created by the Sienese artist Jacopo della Quercia. On one side of the public palace rises a slender 102-meter (334 ft) bell tower known as the Mangia Tower (1338-1348). Other beautiful palaces in the city include those of Tolomei, Buonsignori, Sansedoni and Salimbeni. The great cathedral of Siena was started in the 12th century in the Romanesque style but changed in the 13th century to become one of the best examples of Italian Gothic.

The walls and columns of the church are covered in black and white marble, and the marble floor has decorative elements by Domenico Beccafumi. Pinturicchio painted frescoes for the Piccolomini Library, which is located next to the cathedral and was founded in 1495 by Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini, who later became Pope Pius III. The baptismal font with bas-reliefs by Jacopo della Quercia, Donatello and Lorenzo Ghiberti characterizes the Church of San Giovanni, which serves as the crypt of the cathedral.

Siena produced some of the greatest Italian artists of the 13th and 14th centuries; Many masterpieces by Duccio di Buoninsegna, Simone Martini, Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, and Sassetta can be seen in the Art Gallery of Siena (in the Buonsignori Palace) as well as in the Public Palace and the Museum of Works of the Duomo.

This last museum also has Duccio’s large “Maestà”, painted (1308-11) to celebrate the Sienese victory at Montaperti. Siena was lucky to escape destruction during the Second World War, and it survives today as a charming and beautiful provincial town. It is also an archdiocese. The University of Siena was founded in 1240.

The city has a power plant, but not on a national road or a major railway, although there is a route to Florence. Siena thrives on visitors drawn to its art treasures and ancient monuments. It also serves as a market town for the surrounding agricultural area, which produces livestock, corn, olives and, above all, wine, Chianti is perhaps the most famous of all Italian wines. popularity. (2011) 52839.

What to see in Siena

The golden age of Siena began when it established itself as a strong rival to Florence at the end of the Middle Ages, a period in which the city – during its greatest historical and economic development – took its current form a. Within a few decades, the magnificent Palazzo Comunale (or Palazzo Pubblico) was built on the towering Torre del Mangia, which is considered one of the oldest and tallest towers in Italy.

Where the beautiful nature of Piazza del Campo is covered in travertine. The square is known worldwide because twice a year it becomes the hippodrome of the Palio delle Contrade: for these times, the ground is covered with powder to help the runners to hold .

Finally, work began on the cathedral, which the Sienese had certainly intended to increase: plans for expansion were eventually abandoned when the Black Death struck the city in 1348, but the intention is still visible today in Piazza Jacopo della Quercia, where future media managers. The pillars that would have destroyed the new chaos, and its face can be seen.