SIENA, A UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE IN TUSCANY

Visiting Siena, Tuscany

Yesterday, Claire Fontaine and her friends visited Siena one of the most beautiful cities in Tuscany which was declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. Claire loves Design and Architecture and visiting Siena is a fantastic opportunity to see amazing places from the Renaissance and breathe art around the city.

Siena, in Latin Sena Iulia, is a city in Tuscany and the capital of the province of Siena.

The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. Siena is famous for its cuisine, art, museums, medieval cityscape and the Palio, a horse race held twice a year.

Siena, like other Tuscan hill towns, was first settled in the time of the Etruscans (c. 900–400 BC) when it was inhabited by a tribe called the Saina. The Etruscans were a tribe of advanced people who changed the face of central Italy through their use of irrigation to reclaim previously unfarmable land, and their custom of building their settlements in well-defended hill forts. A Roman town called Saena Julia was founded at the site in the time of the Emperor Augustus. Some archaeologists assert that Siena was controlled for a period by a Gaulish tribe called the Senones.

According to local legend, Siena was founded by Senius and Aschius, two sons of Remus and thus nephews of Romulus, after whom Rome was named.

Joseph visits the Siena Cathedral

Supposedly after their father's murder by Romulus, they fled Rome, taking with them the statue of the she-wolf suckling the infants, Capitoline Wolf, thus appropriating that symbol for the town. Additionally they rode white and black horses, giving rise to the Balzana, or coat of arms of Siena with a white band atop a dark band.

Some claim the name Siena derives from Senius. Other etymologies derive the name from the Etruscan family name Saina, the Roman family name Saenii, or the Latin word senex (old) or its derived form seneo (to be old).

Siena did not prosper under Roman rule. It was not sited near any major roads and lacked opportunities for trade. Its insular status meant that Christianity did not penetrate until the 4th century AD, and it was not until the Lombards invaded Siena and the surrounding territory that it knew prosperity.

After the Lombard occupation, the old Roman roads of Via Aurelia and the Via Cassia passed through areas exposed to Byzantine raids, so the Lombards rerouted much of their trade between the Lombards' northern possessions and Rome along a more secure road through Siena.

More information: Discover Tuscany

Siena prospered as a trading post, and the constant streams of pilgrims passing to and from Rome provided a valuable source of income in the centuries to come.

The oldest aristocratic families in Siena date their line to the Lombards' surrender in 774 to Charlemagne. At this point, the city was inundated with a swarm of Frankish overseers who married into the existing Sienese nobility and left a legacy that can be seen in the abbeys they founded throughout Sienese territory.

Feudal power waned, however, and by the death of Countess Matilda in 1115 the border territory of the March of Tuscany which had been under the control of her family, the Canossa, broke up into several autonomous regions. This ultimately resulted in the creation of the Republic of Siena.

Inside the Siena Cathedral, Tuscany

The Republic existed for over four hundred years, from the 12th century until the year 1555. During the golden age of Siena before the Black Death in 1348, the city was home to 50,000 people.

In the Italian War of 1551–59, the republic was defeated by the rival Duchy of Florence in alliance with the Spanish crown. After 18 months of resistance, Siena surrendered to Spain on 17 April 1555, marking the end of the republic.

The new Spanish King Felipe II, owing huge sums to the Medici, ceded it, apart from a series of coastal fortress annexed to the State of Presidi, to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, to which it belonged until the unification of Italy in the 19th century.

A Republican government of 700 Sienese families in Montalcino resisted until 1559.

Siena is located in the central part of Tuscany, in the middle of a vast hilly landscape between the Arbia river valley (south), the Merse valley (south-west), the Elsa valley (north), the Chianti hills (north-east), the Montagnola Senese (west) and the Crete Senesi (south-east). The city lies at 322 m above sea level.

More information: Visit Tuscany

The Siena Cathedral (Duomo), begun in the 12th century, is a masterpiece of Italian Romanesque-Gothic architecture. Its main façade was completed in 1380. The original plan called for an ambitiously massive basilica, the largest then in the world, with, as was customary, an east-west nave. However, the scarcity of funds, in part due to war and plague, truncated the project, and the Sienese created a subdued version from the original plan's north-south transept. The east wall of the abandoned original folly of a nave still stands; through an internal staircase, visitors can climb for a grand view of the city.

The Siena Cathedral Pulpit is an octagonal 13th-century masterpiece sculpted by Nicola Pisano with lion pedestals and biblical bas-relief panels. The inlaid marble mosaic floor of the cathedral, designed and labored on by many artists, is among the most elaborate in Italy. The Sacristy and Piccolomini library have well preserved Renaissance frescos by Ghirlandaio and Pinturicchio respectively. Other sculptors active in the church and in the subterranean baptistry are Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Jacopo della Quercia and others. 

Tina Picotes visits Siena at night

The Museo dell'Opera del Duomo contains Duccio's famous Maestà (1308–11) and various other works by Sienese masters. More Sienese paintings are to be found in the Pinacoteca.

The Piazza del Campo, the shell-shaped town square, unfurls before the Palazzo Pubblico with its tall Torre del Mangia. This is part of the site for the Palio horse race.

The Palazzo Pubblico, itself a great work of architecture, houses yet another important art museum. Included within the museum is Ambrogio Lorenzetti's frescoes depicting the Allegory and Effects of Good and Bad Government and also some of the finest frescoes of Simone Martini and Pietro Lorenzetti.

The Palazzo Salimbeni, located in a piazza of the same name, was the original headquarters and remains in possession of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena, one of the oldest banks in continuous existence in Europe.

Housed in the notable Gothic Palazzo Chigi-Saracini on Via di Città is the Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Siena's conservatory of music.

More information: The Culture Trip

Siena retains a ward-centric culture from medieval times. Each ward (contrada) is represented by an animal or mascot, and has its own boundary and distinct identity. Ward rivalries are most rampant during the annual horse race (Palio) in the Piazza del Campo. There are 17 wards (contrada): Aquila, Bruco, Chiocciola, Civetta, Drago, Giraffa, Istrice, Leocorno, Lupa, Nicchio, Oca, Onda, Pantera, Selva, Tartuca, Torre, Valdimontone.

Over the centuries, Siena has had a rich tradition of arts and artists. The list of artists from the Sienese School include Duccio and his student Simone Martini, Pietro Lorenzetti and Martino di Bartolomeo. A number of well-known works of Renaissance and High Renaissance art still remain in galleries or churches in Siena.

The Church of San Domenico contains art by Guido da Siena, dating to the mid-13th century. Duccio's Maestà, which was commissioned by the City of Siena in 1308, was instrumental in leading Italian painting away from the hieratic representations of Byzantine art and directing it towards more direct presentations of reality. And his Madonna and Child with Saints polyptych, painted between 1311 and 1318, remains at the city's Pinacoteca Nazionale.

The Pinacoteca also includes several works by Domenico Beccafumi, as well as art by Lorenzo Lotto, Domenico di Bartolo and Fra Bartolomeo.

More information: Visit Tuscany

In the light of faith I am strong, constant, and persevering.

Caterina di Siena

PALIO DI SIENA, THE TRADICIONAL MEDIEVAL HORSE RACE

The Flags of the Sienese Contrade

Yesterday, Tonyi Tamaki and her friends arrived to Siena and visited each one of the 17 contrade that participate in Il Palio di Siena, running twice each year. Each contrada is named after an animal or symbol, and each has a long history and complicated heraldic and semi-mythological associations.  

Tonyi loves horses and knowing more things about this ancestral tradition is a good opportunity to learn about the importance of these animals along the history of Tuscany.

The Palio di Siena, known locally simply as Il Palio, is a horse race that is held twice each year, on 2 July and 16 August, in Siena, Tuscany. Ten horses and riders, bareback and dressed in the appropriate colours, represent ten of the seventeen contrade, or city wards.

The Palio held on 2 July is named Palio di Provenzano, in honour of the Madonna of Provenzano, a Marian devotion particular to Siena which developed around an icon from the Terzo Camollia. The Palio held on 16 August is named Palio dell'Assunta, in honour of the Assumption of Mary.

More information: Il Palio

Sometimes, in case of exceptional events or local or national anniversaries deemed relevant and pertinent ones, the city community may decide for an extraordinary Palio, run between May and September. The last two were on 9th September 2000, to celebrate the entering of the city in the new millennium and on 20th October 2018, in commemoration of the end of the Great War.

A pageant, the Corteo Storico, precedes the race, which attracts visitors and spectators from around the world.

Il Palio di Siena, Tuscany

The race itself, in which the jockeys ride bareback, circles the Piazza del Campo, on which a thick layer of earth has been laid. The race is run for three laps of the piazza and usually lasts no more than 90 seconds.

It is common for a few of the jockeys to be thrown off their horses while making the treacherous turns in the piazza, and indeed, it is not unusual to see riderless horses finishing the race.

The earliest known antecedents of the race are medieval. The town's central piazza was the site of public games, largely combative: pugna, a sort of many-sided boxing match or brawl; jousting; and in the 16th century, bullfights. Public races organized by the contrade were popular from the 14th century on; called palii alla lunga, they were run across the whole city.

When the Grand Duke of Tuscany outlawed bullfighting in 1590, the contrade took to organizing races in the Piazza del Campo. The first such races were on buffalo-back and called bufalate; asinate, races on donkey-back, later took their place, while horse racing continued elsewhere. The first modern Palio, called palio alla tonda to distinguish it from the earlier palii alla lunga, took place in 1633.

More information: Visit Tuscany

At first, one race was held each year, on 2 July. A second, on 16 August, was added from 1701, though initially, the August race was run intermittently rather than every year. The August race, il palio dell'Assunta, which coincided with the Feast of the Assumption, was probably introduced spontaneously as part of the feasting and celebration associated with this important festival. August 16 was presumably chosen because the other days of the mid-August canonical festival, the 14th and 15th of the month, were already taken up respectively by the Corteo dei Ceri and by the census.

Il Palio di Siena, Tuscany

The August Palio started out as an extension of the celebrations of the July Palio and was organized and funded by July's winning contrada, though only if the contrada in question could afford it.

After 1802, however, organisation and funding the August race became a central responsibility of the city, which removed annual uncertainty over whether or not an August Palio would run. It was originated in 1581 on 15 August.

In 1729, the city's Munich-born governor, Violante of Bavaria, defined formal boundaries for the contrade, at the same time imposing several mergers so that the number of Sienese contrade was reduced to seventeen. This was also the year of the decree restricting to ten the number of contrade that could participate in a Palio; the restriction, which remains in force, resulted from the number and extent of accidents experienced in the preceding races.

The Palio di Siena is more than a simple horse race. It is the culmination of ongoing rivalry and competition between the contrade. The lead-up and the day of the race are invested with passion and pride. Formal and informal rituals take place as the day proceeds, with each contrada navigating a strategy of horsemanship, alliances and animosities.

More information: Discover Tuscany

There are the final clandestine meetings among the heads of the contrade and then between them and the jockeys. There is the two-hour pageant of the Corteo Storico, and then all this is crowned by the race, which takes only about 75 seconds to complete. Although there is great public spectacle, the passions displayed are still very real.

The contrada that has been the longest without a victory is nicknamed nonna, grandmother. Civetta, the Owlet, had the title from 1979 until 2009, when it won 16 August race. Torre, the Tower, had this title for being without victory for 44 years, from 1961 to 2005, and Bruco, the Caterpillar, held the title for not winning over 41 years, from 1955 to 1996. Last nonna was Lupa, the She-Wolf, which has not had a victory since 2 July 1989, a period of 29–30 years, until July 2016, when it finally won, leaving now the nonna title to Aquila, the Eagle.

Il Palio di Siena in Piazza del Campo, Tuscany

The drappellone or palio, known affectionately as the rag in Siena, is the trophy that is to be delivered to the contrada that wins the Palio.

The palio is an elongated rectangular piece of silk, hand-painted by an artist for the occasion.

It is held vertically on a black-and-white shaft halberd and topped by a silver plate, with two white and black plumes draped down the sides.

The palio, along with the plumes, remains the property of the contrada. The plate is returned to the city of Siena before the two Palii of the following year, after the date and the name of the victorious contrada are inscribed on its back. There is one silver platter for the Palio in July and another for the August Palio. The plates are replaced approximately every ten years.

More information: The New York Times

The value of the banner is unique, because it represents a particular historical period of the city of Siena. The palii often reflect the symbols of the various governments that have presided at various times, including the crest of the grand duchy of Lorraine, the crest of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, the crest of the Kingdom of Savoy of Italy, symbols from Fascist Italy, and most recently, imagery of the Republic.

The process that an artist should follow in designing the palio is rigid: it must follow a precise iconography that includes some sacred symbols, as the July Palio is dedicated to the Madonna of Provenzano, and that of August to the Madonna of the Assumption. It must present the insignia of the city, those of the third part of the city, and the symbols or colors of the ten contrade participating in the race. There are, however, no limits regarding the style of the art. The palio is first presented at a press conference in the courtyard of the Podestà of the City Hall about a week before the race.

More information: The Guardian

 Palio is not a horse race; it's a way of life. 

Christian Sinibaldi

SEE YOU SOON, ITALY!

Asun Holmes & Corto Maltese in Venice

Yesterday, The Holmes reviewed some aspects of grammar and talked about adverbs of manner. They also created a Personal Message, discussed about job webpages and its difficulties and read a little more of Charles Dickens’ A Carol Christmas. The family stayed all the weekend in Venice enjoying the carnival and sailing by gondola thanks to Asun.

The Grandma explained a story about Navajo Language and Culture and how difficult is keeping them nowadays.

More information: Naval History and Heritage Command

Today, The Holmes have reviewed The Superlatives and some modal verbs like Must, Have to and Should. Moreover, they’ve created a composition using this new theory and they have worked Social English, too.

More information: Adverbs of Manner

For other hand, the family is spending its last hours in Italy. This morning they’ve visited Pisa; this afternoon Verona and in this moment they’re having dinner in Siena.

More information: Superlatives Adjectives

In a few hours, they’re flying to Belgium and later to London. Tomorrow, the family is going to continue its adventures. The Grandma is going to explain them some stories about numbers and they’re going to prepare new budgets and invoices.

More information: Must vs. Have to

More information: Shall vs. Should 

The new cooperative is ready and they must start to work in it.

 

How far that little candle throws his beams! 

So shines a good deed in a weary world. 

William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

IRIS APFEL & EUROVISION: ART & TRADITION

Yesterday, The Holmes reviewed Past Simple & Past Continuous, Articles, Present Continuous and the connectors While & When.

They also created a song for participating in the next Eurovision Contest Song. After some moments of emotion and nerves, the winners were Geni and Núria with the beautiful song “Idiot”. Both of them represented Belgium.

While the most part of The Holmes were creating their songs, Rosa was in Milano with The Grandma and Iris, an old friend of her, taking information about some new fashion business to invest.

For other hand, Geni must leave the family during some days because she must attend some personal business.

The family continues its Italian tour. After visiting Pisa, Siena and Verona they arrived to Venice where they are prepared to spend some beautiful moments enjoying the Carnival.

When you don't dress like everyone else, 

you don't have to think like everyone else.

 Iris Apfel

TELEPHONING IN ENGLISH

The Panthocrator of Taüll, Alta Ribagorça

Today, The Holmes have read another new chapter of Oscar Wilde's The Ghost of Canterville. It seems that the ghost is a little desperate with his new American family.

Next, they've listened to a new Grandma's story. This time it has been about Gypsy Culture and religious symbols like Pantocrator and the Black Virgins.

After that, they've gone shopping to practise countable & uncountable. They also have written a shopping list paying attention to money (coins & bills) and numbers (decimals and fractions).

Finally, they’ve started a new manual about Telephoning in English and they have practised some listening.

This weekend, they’re preparing a new journey. They want to go to Italy, from south –Sicily- to north -Milano, Verona, Siena, Pisa, Venice and Florence-, stopping in the way in Naples and Rome.   

  

  

I have two masters: God and the Devil.
 I work for the Devil until lunch, then I follow the Lord.

 Gypsy Proverb

THE ADDAMS FAMILY: ITALIAN TOUR

The Addams Family has been travelling by Italy during some days. First, they visited Firenze (Florence) where they walked around the Dome and around the historical centre which was catalogued by UNESCO as World Heritage. They went to The Uffizi’s Gallery, Santa Maria di Loreto’s Church and The Palazzo Vecchio. In the Tuscany’s capital, they ate and drank local products and shared nice moments in other neighbour cities like Siena and Pisa, where they visited the Cathedral and The Leaning Tower.

More information: Some & Any Compounds

 

Next, they went to Venezia (Venice) where they sailed across the channels in gondolas and discovered the favourite city of Corto Maltese. They visited the Palazzo Ducale, the Rialto Bridge and San Marco’s Cathedral and walked across this incredible city plenty of history and art.

More information: Used to be

Finally, they arrived to Rome, the eternal city, where they relaxed between ancient ruins. They also visited other sightseen like the Fontana di Trevi, the Parthenon and the Tiber River, next to Castle Sant’Angelo and near The Vatican City.

More information: Shall & Should

More information: Relative pronouns

Now, The Addams Family has returned to Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona where they’re going to open a hotel and they are continuing with their English studies and reviewing some occupational hazards and employment.

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