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Published: December 18th 2011
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Siena
Books in the Duomo May is a lovely time to visit Italy,the sun is shining and the spring flowers coming out. Umbertide didnt prove a pleasant place. There was a medieval heart to the small town although this wasnt easy to find. The town had been obliterated by bombs during the 2nd World War. We sat over breakfast thinking about what we wanted to do during the week. Places to see and things to do were divided into what was important and urgent, what was important but not urgent and the rest which feel into the not urgent and not important. The last things would be visited the second week.
Siena was our first destination and was our most urgent and most important destination. Parking was easy below the town but it left us a long walk uphill to the main town centre past the communal washing house. Siena had been described as a gothic whole where you dont need to go in a museum. High praise indeed. The city is like the hub of a wheel with all its medieval streets radiating from it like the spokes of the wheel. Its black and white zebra like duomo a landmark for miles.
Nothing
Siena
Roof of the Duomo prepares you for the first sight of the Campo with the prominent Palazzo Pubblica and the Fonte Gaia. The square is exquisite where civic pride is at a premium. Crennalations adorn the gothic tower which is well worth the climb to the top. The only thing that we didnt really like about the square was the Capella di Piazza stone building attached to the bell tower and Palazzo Pubblica which looked somewhat out of place.
Inside the building is a fabulous collection of paintings. One of which is the Good and Bad government which shows one side of government with no hint of corruption. Fields full of crops and industrious shopkeepers,merchants with everyone knowing his place in society. The other side of the picture shows the opposite corruption within government,slovenly lazy shopkeepers and farmers, crops deteriorating in the fields. Tyrrany and robbery are shown to destroy the harmony of good government. We purchased a copy to take home and put on our wall.
Then onwards to the Duomo a huge complex building completed to its present size in 1215. There was a failed attempt to increase the building size in the 14th century which failed due to bad
planning and the arrival of the grim reaper in the form of the Black Plague to Italy. Europes population was decimated and money ran out making the project too expensive to complete. There is a sadness to see the unfinished business.
Pavements and mosaics, walls, pillars and columns were all black and white striped. Very arresting but not to everyones taste. The wall paintings in the chapels were painted beautifully breaking up the monotone colour scheme. The collection of medieval books were worth a visit. The art of the scribe was clear to see. Perfectly lettered and with colourful decorations it was hard not to be impressed with the quality and quantity of the works.
You need time to savour Siena. Time to sit in the square imaging the noise and the smells of the horses running in the Palio. Time to imagine the colourful banners and flags hanging from the windows and balconies.
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