Tuscany - Province of Siena

Among the Tuscan provinces, that of Siena is certainly the one that most deserves to be explored by me. In fact there are many interesting places I have not yet visited, and Siena too deserves to be visited with greater attention. Nonetheless I have crossed this zone many times and in some cases I have come here for tourism. As a child I went on an organised bus trip to Siena and San Gimignano. In Siena I visited the splendid Piazza del Campo with the Palazzo Pubblico and the Torre del Mangia. Inside the Palazzo Pubblico I visited some rooms including the great Hall of the World Map, full of works of art. I also went to the cathedral with its marvellous richly decorated façade and to the more modest Sanctuary of Santa Caterina, located on the site of her house. It is hard to say more about this beautiful city visited as a child.

Little can I say either about the other place visited during that trip, San Gimignano, where we walked through the medieval streets of the centre among its numerous towers. Much later I stopped briefly in Siena during a trip with a friend; we went to Piazza del Campo but it was a truly fleeting visit. A little more attentive was a stop of a few hours in San Gimignano a few years ago, visiting the three beautiful adjoining squares: delle Erbe, della Cisterna and del Duomo. These squares are surrounded by historic buildings such as the Palazzo del Popolo and the Collegiata, but in fact the whole town is a complex of well-preserved medieval buildings among which the numerous towers stand out. A visit to San Gimignano is a leap into the Middle Ages. During the same trip I stopped at Colle Val d'Elsa, a walled town of medieval layout set on a hill.

A long road crosses the centre between two rows of historic buildings, some of which are equipped with towers and friezes. On another occasion I visited the extreme south of the province, starting from Chiusi, a very ancient town of pre-Roman foundation, surely Etruscan but also mentioned in Hellenistic times. The old town presents the cathedral with a mighty isolated bell tower and numerous other churches such as that of San Francesco. Going around the town is simple and short, and lets you discover characteristic corners, panoramic views over the valley below and pass through Piazza del Municipio. From here, a few kilometres to Chianciano Terme, where, crossing the modern vast spa area occupied by accommodation facilities, I reached the small old town, a real village set on a hill, partly walled, with some buildings of interest such as an arch and the Clock Tower.

Definitely more interesting is the next stop at Montepulciano, whose old town begins in the valley and develops up to the top of a hill reached by driving a steep road flanked by ancient palaces and churches. At the top is the main square where, facing one another, are the cathedral with a façade devoid of cladding (like San Lorenzo in Florence) and the medieval Palazzo Comunale with corbels and clock tower. Walking the ancient streets that rise and fall from the hill is like visiting a museum of antiquity; the workshops and wine bars where the famous wine produced here is tasted are housed in characteristic stone cellars often with vaulted ceilings. One frequently glimpses characteristic corners such as the Torre di Pulcinella, where at the top a cheerful mechanical puppet rings the bell.

Not far from here, a couple of years later, I visited Pienza, the ideal city commissioned by Pope Pius II. It is a small village set on a hill where the pontiff had the cathedral and some palaces built around the central square. To tell the truth the place rather disappointed me; I expected it to be larger and definitely livelier. On the nearby hill the little village of Monticchiello is very characteristic and pleasant to visit. One enters through a gate opening in the walls and walks along steep cobbled lanes flanked by stone buildings. Recently I returned with a friend to Siena as a guest of the city's Tourism Councillor. We visited the Museum of the Palazzo Pubblico with the Hall of the World Map and climbed to the top of the Torre del Mangia. From here one enjoys a beautiful view of the city, on which stands out the great façade of the unfinished extension of the cathedral.

Having descended, we then visited the cathedral. These have been my few tourist experiences in the Province of Siena.