Sienna,the first town, is said to have been founded by Remus's sons Senius and Aschius.
This is the door from the first church we visited which is dedicated to Catherine of Sienna, the saint who managed to get the Pope to return from Avignon to Rome and make it his base. Mother (now Saint) Teresa gets attention as well.
Sienna holds a bareback horse race in the square each summer, with each of the 19 different parts of the old town competing against each other. Very competitive.
The horses come to be blessed before the race -- hence special doors into the church below.
The piazza is not really a square, but a fan shape with segments representing each of the suburbs.
On race days, they barricade the shop fronts and put barriers around the paved square where the people stand for hours. The race is run on the grey paving stones around the outside.
This is the fountain in the square, memorialising the arrival of pumped water in the town.
In one public building is this statue said to be stolen from Rome, reflecting their foundation myth around Remus' two sons.
This amazing church would please all Collingwood supporters! There is black and white marble throughout, and wonderful inlaid marble pictures as the floor. This is a church that started off with one design and finished with a completely different one, with the nave at right angles to the original plan.
They had wanted to build the biggest church in Christendom but the plague and lack of money meant they had to redesign it.
They had completed the front when they had to change the church. This stands at one end. They ended up building a smaller building across ways.
As well as the enormous range of frescos and other art, the cathedral houses an important collections of large, hand-written and illustrated hymn books -- strictly speaking antiphonies and graduals, showing chants for monks and choirs.
We moved onto San Gimignano, a village with 13 towers, for a quick look at that church and the village, including prize winning gelati.
A puppet show in the square.
Olive trees and vines from the surrounding countryside.
We drifted back late for a late dinner. The less said about calde calde (pizza doughnuts with nutella) the better -- although it was finished!
- Posted when we got around to it
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