Siena

Travel back to medieval times with a visit to Siena

Siena, 43 miles south of Florence and 144 miles north of Rome, is a medieval city of brick. From a vantage point such as the Palazzo Pubblico's tower, its sea of roof tiles blends into a landscape of steep, twisting stone alleys. This cityscape hides dozens of Gothic palaces and pastry shops galore, unseen neighborhood rivalries, and altarpieces of unsurpassed beauty.

Siena is proud of its past. It trumpets the she-wolf as its emblem, a holdover from its days as Saena Julia, the Roman colony founded by Augustus about 2,000 years ago. Siena still parcels out the rhythms of life, its rites of passage and communal responsibilities, to the 17 contrade (neighborhood wards) formed in the 14th century. It makes a point of offering an image of Tuscany different from that of Florence, its old medieval rival – and since the plague of the 14th century, Siena was so busy defending its liberty it had little time or energy to develop as a city. As a result, it has remained one of Italy’s largest cities to retain a distinctively medieval air. Thus, it offers travelers their best chance to slip into the rhythms and atmosphere of the Tuscan Middle Ages.

© 2009, Wiley Publishing, Inc.