Siena: Italy’s Medieval Soul
I believe a regular dose of travel daydreaming can be good for the soul. Take me to Siena, Italy in this excerpt from my book. For the love of EuropeA collection of 100 of my favorite places, people, and life-long European travel stories.
Perched on a Tuscan hill, Siena offers perhaps Italy’s best medieval experience. Flower-adorned wells in courtyards, churches modestly share their art, and streets end in a panorama of red-tiled rooftops. This city is made for walking. With its rocky skyline and rustic brick streets cascading in every direction, the town is an architectural past, where pedestrians rule and the present feels like the past.
Today, self-confident Saiyans recall their centuries-old exploits with pride. In the 1300s, Siena was one of the largest cities in Europe and a major military power in a class with Florence, Venice, and Genoa. But weakened by a devastating plague and conquered by its Florentine rivals, Siena became a backwater—and has been one ever since. Siena’s loss became the travelers’ gain as its political and economic irrelevance preserved its Gothic identity.
This is most notable at Il Campo, where I begin my stroll. In the heart of the city, this grand shell-shaped piazza, featuring a red brick floor sloping from the City Hall tower, is designed for people, offering the perfect invitation to loiter. Il Campo immerses you in a world where troubadours play guitar, lovers stroke each other’s hair, and stomachs become pillows. It gets my vote for the best pizza in all of Europe.
Most Italian cities have a church in their main square, but Il Campo gathers the citizens of Siena around its city hall with its skyscraper municipal tower. Catching my breath after climbing the dizzying top of the 100-yard tall bell tower, I survey the scene and think about the campanile’s statement. In Siena, kings and popes took a seat before the people, because it was all about secular government, civil society, and humanity.
The public is welcomed inside City Hall, where over seven centuries of instructive sketches have been a reminder of all the effects of good and bad government. A fresco shows a utopian republic, blissfully at peace; Another fresco depicts a city in ruins, overrun by greed and cruelty.
But the church still has its place. If El Campo is the heart of Siena, then the Duomo is its soul—and my next destination. A few blocks from the main square, sitting on Siena’s highest point and visible for miles, this white-and-dark-green striped cathedral is as ornate as Gothic. Inside and outside, it is decorated with sculptures and mosaics. Stone heads of some 2,000-year-old popes — more than 170 so far — ring the bells inside, peering down at those who enter.
Great art, including sculptures by Michelangelo and Bernini, fills the interior of the church. Nicola Pisano carved the magnificent marble pulpit in 1268. It is full of delicate gothic storytelling. I get up close to study the life of Christ and the Last Judgment scenes.
I walk away from the city center, trying to avoid the crowds at the cathedral and the main square. I purposefully get lost in the back streets of Siena, surrounded by iron rings for harnessing horses and festooned with colorful flags. Those flags represent the city. Contradictory (neighborhood), whose fierce loyalties are evident twice each summer during the Palio, a wild bare-horse race that transforms Il Campo into a thrilling and crowded racetrack.
Wandering through the far reaches of the city, I’m drawn to the shops along the way by the specialties of Siena: gourmet pasta, vintage Chianti, Boar prosciutto, and the city’s favorite treat: panfort.
Panfort is Siena’s claim to fame for its calories. This rich, chewy blend of nuts, honey and candied fruit will impress even fruitcake haters. Local bakeries claim that their recipe dates back to the 13th century. Some even make employees sign nondisclosure agreements to ensure they won’t reveal the special spice blend that flavors their version of this beloved — and very dense — cake.
The key to enjoying Siena is to imagine it in its 14th-century heyday while taking advantage of today’s modern landscape. After chewing on a piece of this panfort, I decided to stay here until the evening, when the tour groups boarded their buses and left the city. Duck in a bar for me Aperitivo (happy hour), which includes a free buffet and now I’m ready and willing to indulge. The passeggiata – An evening walk. I time my return to El Campo to savor the beautiful twilight moment when the sky is a rich dome of blue, not brighter than the proud Siena towers that tower over it.
