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Location of Siena in Italy
Country Italy
Region Tuscany
Province Siena (SI)
Mayor Maurizio Cenni (since May 13, 2005)
Elevation 322 m (1,056 ft)
Area 118 km2 (45.6 sq mi)
Population (as of 2008-04-30)
- Total 54,066
- Density 458/km² (1,186/sq mi)
Time zone CET, UTC+1
Gentilic Senesi
Dialing code 0577
Postal code 53100, 53010
Patron St. Ansanus
- Day December 1
Website: http://www.comune.siena.it/
Historic Centre of Siena*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Siena's Piazza del Campo
State Party Italy
Type Cultural
Criteria i, ii, iv
Reference 717
Region** Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription 1995 (19th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
** Region as classified by UNESCO.
Siena (also widely spelled Sienna in English) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site.
History
Siena, like other Tuscan hill towns, was first settled in the time of the Etruscans (c. 900 BC to 400 BC) when it was inhabited by a tribe called the Saina. The Etruscans were an 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. Then, at the time of the Emperor Augustus, a Roman town called Saena Julia was founded in the site. The first document mentioning it dates from AD 70. Some archaeologists assert it was controlled for a period by a Gaulish tribe called the Saenones.
The Roman origin accounts for the town's emblem – a she-wolf suckling the infants Romulus and Remus. According to legend, Siena was founded by Senius, son of Remus, who was in turn the brother of Romulus, after whom Rome was named. Statues and other artwork depicting a she-wolf suckling the young twins Romulus and Remus can be seen all over the city of Siena. Other etymologies derive the name from the Etruscan family name "Saina", the Roman family name of the "Saenii", or the Latin word "senex" ("old") or the derived form "seneo", "to be old".
Siena did not prosper under Roman rule. It was not sited near any major roads and therefore missed out on the resulting opportunities for trade. Its insular status meant that Christianity did not penetrate until the fourth century AD, and it was not until the Lombards invaded Siena and the surrounding territory that it knew prosperity. Their occupation and the fact that the old Roman roads of Aurelia and the Cassia passed through areas exposed to Byzantine raids, caused the roads between the Lombards' northern possessions and Rome to be re-routed through Siena. The inevitable consequence of this was that Siena prospered as a trading post, and the constant streams of pilgrims passing to and from Rome were to prove a valuable source of income in the centuries to come.
On September 4, 1260 the Sienese Ghibellines, supported by the forces of King Manfred of Sicily, defeated the Florentine Guelphs in the Battle of Montaperti. Before the battle, the Sienese army of around 20,000 faced a much larger Florentine army of around 33,000. Prior to the battle, the entire city was dedicated to the Virgin Mary (this was done several times in the city's history, most recently in 1944 to guard the city from Allied bombs). The man given command of Siena for the duration of the war, Bonaguida Lucari, walked barefoot and bareheaded, a halter around his neck, to the Duomo. Leading a procession composed of all the city's residents, he was met by all the clergy. Lucari and the bishop embraced, to show the unity of church and state, then Luceri formally gave the city and contrade to the Virgin. Legend has it that a thick white cloud descended on the battlefield, giving the Sienese cover and aiding their attack. The reality was that the Florentine army launched several fruitless attacks against the Sienese army during the day, then when the Sienese army countered with their own offensive, traitors within the Florentine army killed the standard bearer and in the resulting chaos, the Florentine army broke up and fled the battlefield. Almost half the Florentine army (some 15,000 men) were killed as a result. So crushing was the defeat that even today if the two cities meet in any sporting event, the Sienese supporters are likely to exhort their Florentine counterparts to “Remember Montaperti!”.
Siena's university, founded in 1240 and famed for its faculties of law and medicine, is still among the most important Italian universities. Siena rivalled Florence in the arts through the 13th and 14th centuries: the important late medieval painter Duccio di Buoninsegna (1253–1319) was a Sienese, but worked across the peninsula, and the mural of "Good Government" by Ambrogio Lorenzetti in the Palazzo Pubblico, or town hall, is a magnificent example of late-Medieval/early Renaissance art as well as a representation of the utopia of urban society as conceived during that period. Siena was devastated by the Black Death of 1348, and also suffered from ill-fated financial enterprises.
In 1404 the Visconti were expelled and a government of Ten Priors established. Emperor Charles V took advantage of the chaotic situation to put a Spanish garrison in Siena. The citizens expelled it in 1552, allying with France: this was unacceptable for Charles, who sent his general Gian Giacomo Medici to lay siege to it with a Florentine-Imperial army.
The Sienese government entrusted its defence to Piero Strozzi. When the latter was defeated at the Battle of Marciano (August 1554), any hope of relief was lost. After 18 months of resistance, it surrendered to Florence on April 17, 1555, marking the end of the Republic of Siena. The new Spanish King Philip, owing huge sums to the Medici, ceded it (apart 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.
The picturesque city remains an important cultural centre, especially for humanist disciplines.
Culture
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.
Siena's cathedral, the Duomo, begun in the twelfth century, is one of the great examples of Italian romanesque architecture. Its main façade was completed in 1380. It is unusual for a Christian cathedral in that its axis runs north-south. This is because it was originally intended to be the largest cathedral in existence, with a north-south transept and an east-west aisle, as is usual. After the completion of the transept and the building of the east wall (which still exists and may be climbed by the public via an internal staircase) the money ran out and the rest of the cathedral was abandoned.
Inside is the famous Gothic octagonal pulpit by Nicola Pisano (1266–1268) supported on lions, and the labyrinth inlaid in the flooring, traversed by penitents on their knees. Within the Sacristy are some perfectly preserved renaissance frescos by Ghirlandaio, and, beneath the Duomo, in the baptistry is the baptismal font with bas-reliefs by Donatello, Ghiberti, Jacopo della Quercia and other 15th century sculptors. The Museo dell'Opera del Duomo contains Duccio's famous Maestà (1308–1311) and various other works by Sienese masters. More Sienese paintings are to be found in the Pinacoteca.
The shell-shaped Piazza del Campo, the town square, which houses the Palazzo Pubblico and the Torre del Mangia, is another architectural treasure, and is famous for hosting 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 series of frescos on the good government and the results of good and bad government and also some of the finest frescoes of Simone Martini and Pietro Lorenzetti.
On the Piazza Salimbeni is the Palazzo Salimbeni, a notable building and also the medieval headquarters of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, one of the oldest banks in continuous existence and a major player in the Sienese economy.
Housed in the notable Gothic Palazzo Chigi on Via di Città is the Accademia Musicale Chigiana, Siena's conservatory of music.
The city's gardens include the Orto Botanico dell'Università di Siena, a botanical garden maintained by the University of Siena.
The Medicean Fortress houses the Enoteca Italiana and the Siena Jazz School, with courses and concerts all the year long and a major festival during the International Siena Jazz Masterclasses. Over two weeks more than 30 concerts and jam sessions are held in the two major town squares, on the terrace in front of the Enoteca, in the gardens of the Contrade clubs, and in numerous historical towns and villages of the Siena province. Siena is also home of Sessione Senese per la Musica e l'Arte (SSMA), a summer music program for musicians, is a fun/learning musical summer experience.
In the neighbourhood are numerous patrician villa, numerous of which attributed to Baldassarre Peruzzi.
History
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 organising 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 1656. At first, one race was held each year, on July 2; a second, on August 16, was added later.
The race today
The first race (Palio di Provenzano) is held on July 2, which is both the Feast of the Visitation and the date of a local festival in honour of the Madonna of Provenzano (a painting once owned by the Sienese leader Provenzano Salvani, which was supposed to have miraculous curative power). The second race is held on August 16 (Palio dell'Assunta), the day after the Feast of the Assumption, and is likewise dedicated to the Virgin Mary. After exceptional events (e.g. the Apollo 11 moon landing) and on important anniversaries (e.g. the centennial of the Unification of Italy), the Sienese community may decide to hold a third Palio between May and September. The most recent was in 2000 to mark the Millennium.
The field consists of ten horses, so not all seventeen city wards can take part in the Palio on any occasion. The seven wards which did not take part in the previous race are automatically included; three more are chosen by draw (twice a year, in the last days of May and at the beginning of July). Private owners (among them, some jockeys) offer the pick of their stables, selected during the year after trial races, other Palio races in Italy and veterinary examination, from which main representatives of the participating Contrade, the Capitani, choose ten of approximately equal quality, three days before the race. A lottery then determines which horse will run for each Contrada. Six trial races are run, the first on the evening of the horse selection and the last on the morning before the Palio. The devout residents of each Contrada invoke the sacred aid of their patron saint on their horse and jockey. The worldly improve their odds with more dubious methods, chiefly bribery and doping. The sensible simply keep a close watch on their stable and their rider.
The horses are of mixed breed, no purebred horses are allowed.
The carroccio of Siena, during the procession preceding the Palio of August 2006.
The race is preceded by a spectacular pageant, the Corteo Storico, which includes (among many others) Alfieri, flag-wavers, in medieval costumes. Just before the pageant, a squad of carabinieri on horseback, wielding swords, demonstrate a mounted charge around the track. Spectators arrive early in the morning, eventually filling the centre of the town square, inside the track, to capacity; the local police seal the entrances once the festivities begin in earnest. Seats ranging from simple bleachers to elaborate box seats may be had for a price, but sell out long before the day of the race. The landlords of buildings overlooking the piazza sometimes stipulate that tenants must be absent on the day of the Palio, in order to rent the space to spectators.
At 7.30 p.m. (July) / 7 p.m. (August), the detonation of an explosive charge echoes across the piazza, signaling to the thousands of onlookers that the race is about to begin. The race itself runs for three laps of the Piazza del Campo, the outer course of which is covered with several inches of dirt, tuff, and the corners of which are protected with padded crash barriers for the occasion. The jockeys ride the horses bareback from the starting line, an area between two ropes. Nine horses, in an order only decided by lot immediately before the race starts, enter the space. The tenth, the rincorsa, waits outside. When the Rincorsa finally enters the space between the ropes the starter (Mossiere) activates a mechanism that instantly drops the canapo (the front rope). This process (the Mossa) can take a very long time, as deals will have been done between various contrade and jockeys that affect when the Rincorsa moves - he may be waiting for a particular other horse to be well- or badly-placed for example.
On the dangerous, steeply-canted track, the riders are allowed to use their whips (in Italian, nerbi, stretched, dried bull's penises) not only for their own horse, but also for disturbing other horses and riders. The winner is the first horse to cross the finish line with its head ornaments intact — and a horse can win without its rider (a condition known as cavallo scosso). The loser in the race is considered to be the Contrada whose horse came second, not last.
The winner is awarded a banner of painted silk, or palio, which is newly created by a different artist for each race. The enthusiasm after the victory, however, is so extreme that the ceremony of attribution of the Palio is quite instantaneous, being the first moment of a months-long celebration for the winning ward. There are occasional outbreaks of violence between partisans of the various Contrade.
There may be some danger to spectators from the sheer number of people in attendance. There have also been complaints about mistreatment of horses, injuries and even deaths, especially from animal rights associations and even from some veterinarians. In the Palio held on August 16, 2004 the horse for the Contrada of the Bruco (Caterpillar) fell and was badly trampled as the race was not stopped, despite possible additional safety risks for other horses. The horse died of its injuries, raising further complaints from animal rights organizations, which do not recognize the municipality's efforts to improve the safety of the race and the exceptionality of that accident.
The Palio race differs from "normal" horse races since part of the game is for the wards to prevent rival "contradas" (which are called "Enemies") to win. Many tricks are allowed for this purpose, including trying to knock off the rival's jockey or to block or hamper the rival horse at the start.
The most successful ward is Oca, the Goose, which won 63 races (at least at their records starting from 1644), followed by Chiocciola, the Snail, with 51 and Tartuca, the Tortoise, with 45. Oca is also the "contrada" which won the most in recent history (from 1900 to 2009) with 21 victories, followed by Drago, the Dragon, and Selva, the Forest, with 17 victories each.
Among jockeys, the most victorious of all times is Andrea De Gortes nicknamed "Aceto" (or "vinegar") with 14 wins (from 1964 to 1996), followed by Angelo Meloni nicknamed "Picino", who won 13 times between 1897 and 1933. Luigi Bruschelli nicknamed "Trecciolino", who is still in activity, is third in the number of wins with 11 successes.
The most successful horses were Folco and Panezio with 8 wins each, followed by Topolone with 7.
In recent history (from 1900 to now), only two wards were able to win both year's races (July and August of the same year). It happened to Tartuca (Tortoise) in 1933 and to Giraffa (Giraffe) in 1997 with jockey Giuseppe Pes nicknamed "Il Pesse".
There is also a particular attention to the ward that has been the longest without a victory. In this case the Contrada is nicknamed "nonna" or "grandmother". At the moment, Civetta, the Owlet, has the title since it won last time in 1979. Torre, the Tower, has had this title for being without victory for 44 years (from 1961 to 2005) and also Bruco, the Caterpillar, has had the title for not winning over 41 years (from 1955 to 1996).
View of the Piazza del Campo, where the Palio is run.
Siena, Italy, Europe, Palio, Medieval, City, Tosc...