Toscana, Italy Trip: Day 4
Saturday, October 16, 2006 – Siena and San Gimignano
On Saturday we set off at 8 a.m. for Siena (Sienne), the City of the Virgin. The road to Siena passed rich, green fields of olive-trees, vineyards and cypresses. Siena has many monuments to the history of the region, the most renowned being the “Piazza del Campo”, the historic center of the city. This square is also the site of “The Siena Palio”, an annual festival and horse race. For the latter the outside of the square is covered with dirt and the horses race around the square three times. If you look at the following picture of the square it is really hard to imagine a horse race being held in such a small space.
We had lunch at a café to the right of where I took the pictures above. The streets of Siena were very steep and narrow so my wife preferred to limit our excursion through the city.
After lunch our group met in this square and we walked back to the bus. From there we made our way to San Gimignano, a Middle Ages town located on a hill near Siena. The surrounding country side was breathtaking, despite the almost constant rain that we experienced.
San Gimignano, famous for Vernaccia and for it’s towers, stands on top of a pass that dominates the Valley of Elsa. It is the center of a small Etruscan village of the Hellenic period. Its history began around the 10th century when it took the name of the Saint Bishop of Modena. In the year 1348 a terrible plague almost wiped out the town and as a consequence the small town had to surrender itself to the power of Florence. However, as a result much of the original town remain intact, unlike other towns that were destroyed due to wars.
Just as we entered the old city, there began a drenching downpour of rain. We retreated to a café with another couple from our group for some coffee and cake until the rain let up.
So this was our last excursion in Italy. After breakfast on Sunday we had to bide our newfound love Adieu!
Here is one more view of Cinquale:
