Siena

The city of Siena is one of those “must see” places. It is yet another of the towns retaining its medieval walls, similar to Viterbo in that respect. Once again, if you were set down blindfolded in the middle of the city you would find yourself comfortably at home. There are steeper hills than in Viterbo and more upscale shops. The phenomenon of the shops is a kind of chicken-and-egg thing. If there are a lot of tourists, more upscale shops open to cater to them and if there are more upscale shops they attract more tourists. Viterbo is nice in that the shops are what you would expect of a living city. I can’t imagine how many shops there are in Siena selling fancy handbags, shoes and underwear.

The shops aside, Siena has a number of unique features. The first is the green and white striped duomo. As originally conceived it would have been the largest place of worship in the Christian world, larger even than St. Peter’s in Rome. The Black Plague devastated the population of Siena, reducing it to 1/3 of its original 100,000 and ending the grand plans. What is now the main chapel would have been the transept across a monstrously large apse. A few of the outer walls of the planned space which had already been completed are still standing and have been incorporated into the square. The interior of the space is so visually stunning you don’t know where to focus. It puts the duomo in Orvieto to shame. Next is the Campo, the fan-shaped central square where everybody congregates and where the Palio is held every year. We arrived in the evening in time to sit for a few minutes and drink in the atmosphere.

One of the highlights of this portion of the trip was the Hotel Alma Domus where we stayed. It is run by nuns and is simple, clean and inexpensive. It is located just across a ravine from the duomo, giving breathtaking views of the building and providing a central location for waking up to chapel bells on a Sunday morning. It is also directly next to the Sanctuary of St. Catherine. Finally, the Basilica di S. Dominico is around the corner from the hotel. St. Catherine of Siena is one of the most revered saints in Italy. There are two relics in S. Dominico, her head and her right thumb. The head is in a small chapel at the side of the basilica and rope barriers keep you from getting too close. Her thumb, “on the other hand”, is readily available for inspection mounted on a silver stand behind a piece of glass next to the chapel housing the remains of her head. We had a pizza dinner a few steps from our hotel then turned in for a relaxing night’s sleep. We left early the next morning to avoid the expected crowd for a soccer match between Juventus and Viterbo.