EXCURSION:
Siena
Siena was Florence's rival city for several hundred years. Our walks usually start with a panoramic stroll through the virtually intact Medieval urban fabric of the city. Few places in Europe can give you an idea of the looks and feel of the Middle Ages as Siena can. The heart of the city, Il Campo, is a shell-shaped piazza which not only still serves as the political center of Siena (the 14th century Palazzo Pubblico, or civic building, dominating the square with its tall slender belltower is today’s City Hall), but it is also the social fulcrum of Siena, and the place where twice a year the city's seventeen neighborhoods meet and compete in the ancient horserace known as Palio. The Cathedral of Siena, a masterpiece of Italian Gothic architecture, also reflects the dramatic events of Siena's history. At a time when the size of the cathedral was the measure of the political and economic prestige of a city, Siena attempted to expand its cathedral to a size that would overshadow that of the cathedral of Florence (Siena's rival and enemy since always). Unfortunately, the Great Plague of 1348, and the terrible economic and social problems that followed, put an abrupt end to this ambitious project. At that point, the city authorities were obliged to review their original plans to rebuild their cathedral, and turned to the more realistic project of embellishing the existing one. One can still explore the remains of the looming structures which had to be abandoned.