Siena - The City, Not the Woman

Sept. 21, 2010 - PRLog -- Siena, just like a lot of towns in this region, was built on hills and is surrounded by very well kept city walls. Also just like a few places in this region it has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is a town known for its Medieval cityscape - so you can be assured that it boasts some of the best Tuscany villas you can find in Italy.

One of the main sites of the city is the cathedral of Siena, also known as the Duomo,  which was built between 1215 and 1263 and was designed by Nicola Pisano, a renowned Gothic designer. If you were to look from the sky you can see that the building looks similar to the Latin cross, and inside the cathedral is several important pieces of art: such as the Feast of Herod by Donatello,  Saint Jerome by Bernini and the Saint Peter and Florentine Pietà by Michelango.

The Piazza del Campo is the shell-shaped town square that is renowned all over the world for its beautiful medieval feel. On the edges of the piazza is where the Palio di Siena is held, and also in the Piazza del Campo is the 'Palazzo Pubblico', which is the town hall of Siena and is said to be the symbol of the city's freedom. Also inside of the Palazzo is an art museum which is home to several frescoes done by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Simone Martini and Pietro Lorenzetti. The Copenhagen City Hall and Odense City Hall were influenced by the Palazzo Pubblico and have a similar building structure.

Adjacent to the Palazzo Pubblico is the Torre de Mangia, is a tower that is one of the tallest secular towers in medieval Italy, it is only beaten by Cremona's Torrazzo. The name 'Torre del Mangia' means 'Tower of the Eater', which came from Giovanni di Balduccio - who was given the nickname 'Mangiaguadagni' as he loved to spend all his hard earned money on food.

There is also the city's garden, which is looked after by the University of Siena. It is called the 'Orto Botanico dell'Università di Siena' and in this botanical garden you can see many exotic and local plants; it also houses a farm area that grows fruit, olive trees and vines of the main Chianti grapes. There are also three greenhouses here that look after the tropical plants, especially during winter months.

Siena is a city that has always had sporting traditions, loads of sport are practised here and probably the most popular sports here are football and basketball. There is one football Team that competes in the Italian Leagues, A.C. Siena, and the stadium that they play in is the 'Stadio Artemio Franchi', which holds just under 16,000. They are in the Serie B after being relegated from the Serie A in the previous year, though they were in the top league for seven seasons and are looking to get back straight away. The main team in Siena that plays Basketball is the Mens Sana Basket. It is the oldest sports society in Siena and participates in the top League in Italy, the Lega Basket Serie A, which they have won five times and have won for the past three years. With the recent success the team has entered the euroleague a few times and is considered one of the strongest clubs in Europe, especially as they have graced the final four three times in the past decade.

Every year the city holds the Palio of Siena, an annual horse race which is important to the Sienese districts and has had an important influence on the history and culture of the city. The city is divided into 17 different regions, districts and areas of the city, which are called 'contrada'. It is said that the Sienese people belong to the contrada first and then the city. Each contrada competes against each other in the Palio.


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