Siena

A mere 35 minutes from Rada lies this ancient walled city that, legend has it, was founded by Senius and Ascius, the sons of Remus (as in Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome). Previously the city had been a Celtic, Villanovan and then Etruscan settlement, while in the Roman era Augustus used it as a retirement village for his army veterans. By the 12^th Century Siena was able to house many of its warring noblemen inside its walls. They lived divided in fortified camps, only stepping out periodically with their armed bullyboys to fight pitched battles in the streets. In the 13^th Century during the Tuscan wars the Sienese, striving to remain independent from Florence, carried the Ghibelline banner and in 1260 were surrounded by some 40,000 Florentine and Guelph soldiers who demanded they give up their Ghibelline exiles or they would raze the city to the ground. The Sienese were having none of it so threw the keys of the city onto the altar of the new but unfinished Duomo, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and marched out to meet their aggressors at the battle of Monteaperti. They flattened the Florentines, only to lose control a few years later.

Prior to The Palio, the city's favourite pastime was the famous Gioco del Pugno, basically a blood-thirsty, 300-a-side stone-fight in the Campo, which often led to total mayhem.

During the 14^th Century Siena became a very rich and influential city, ruling most of Southern Tuscany until the Black Death killed off a third of its population. For the next few hundred years Siena would be in upheaval, fighting off marauding mercenaries on their way back home from the Crusades and battling with Emperor Charles V, who razed much of the surrounding countryside and laid siege to Siena until it starved and gave up in April 1555. After the siege, a band of 2000 determined republicans fled the city to Montalcino where they declared, "Where the commune is, there is the city", establishing the world's first exiled republican government. They presided over much of Siena's old territories, holding out against the force of the Medici for another four years.

For the next few centuries the city was in decline, its population shrinking from 80,000 in the 14^th Century to a mere 15,000 by the 18^th.
And so it was ignored until in the 1830s it was rediscovered by the British literati who praised it from the rooftops. Indeed the writer Henry James made it his home from home. In the 20^th Century Siena woke up, leisurely dusted itself off and began rebuilding to become what it is today one of Italy's most fascinating cities.


Eating In Siena

Guido
Moderately priced traditional Sienese restaurant that serves excellent lamb and steak, while the house wine is beyond reproach.
Vicolo Pier Pettinato7. Tel: (+39) 0577 280042

Ai Marsili
An elegant restaurant serving great Sienese fare that is mostly meat based.
Via Del Castorro 3. Tel: (+39) 0577 47154

Osteria de Logge
Once Siena's best restaurant, it has now forgotten its roots and surrounded itself in pomp. It is still worth a look, but keep to the simple dishes.
Via Dell Porrione 33. Tel: (+39) 0577 48013

Shopping in Siena
Siena is a small town free of either over-priced Italian designer goods or tourist junk, but you might find all manner of unusual goodies lurking in the cobbled streets you just have to look.