I believe that a regular dose of travel dreams can be good for the soul. Be transported to Siena, Italy in this chapter of my book, a collection of 100 of my favorite places, people and stories from my travels in Europe .
Siena is spread out over the Tuscan hills and offers perhaps the best medieval experience in Italy. Squares feature flower-covered fountains, churches humbly display their art, and pathways lead to views of red-covered rooftops. It is a city to walk. With its stony sky and rustic brick paths bouncing in all directions, the city is an architectural age where pedestrians shop and the present seems past.
Today, the self-confident Sienese proudly recalls the achievements of the past. In the 1300s, Siena was one of the largest cities in Europe and a major military power, on a par with Florence, Venice, and Genoa. But weakened by a devastating plague and defeated by Florentine rivals, Siena became a plague, and has been ever since. The loss of Siena became a gain for the traveller, as it retained its Gothic identity of negligible political and economic importance.
This is particularly evident at Il Campo, where I start my hike. In the center of the city, the red brick floor extends from the town hall tower, this large shell-shaped square invites people and invites them to stroll. Il Campo takes you to a world where troubadours caress guitars, lovers caress hair and bellies become pillows. It gets my vote for the most beautiful place in all of Europe.
Most Italian cities have a church in the main square, but Il Campo gathers the citizens of Siena around the town hall, with its towering municipal tower. After climbing the 100 meter bell tower to the top of the bell tower, I looked at the view and thought about what the bell tower had to say. In Siena, the king and the pope had priority over the people because it was a secular state, civil society and humanity.
The people welcomed them at the town hall, where the people remember the consequences of good and bad government for seven hundred years. A fresco shows a happy utopian republic at peace; Another fresco shows a city in chaos with greed and tyranny.
But the church still has a place. If Il Campo is the heart of Siena, the Duomo is its soul and my next destination. Just a few blocks from the main square, sitting on the highest point in Siena and visible from afar, this dark green and white striped cathedral is decorated like a Gothic one. It is decorated with statues and mosaics inside and out. The nearly 2,000 stone archbishops, more than 170 so far, call out and watch over all who enter.
Great art fills the interior of the church, including frescoes by Michelangelo and Bernini. Nicola Pisano in 1268 It is full of delicate Gothic stories. I come to study the life of Christ and the Last Judgment.
To escape the crowds of the cathedral and the main square, I left the city center. I deliberately got lost in the wonderful streets of Siena, lined with rings of iron horses and surrounded by colored flags. These flags represent the city's opposites (neighbourhoods), whose allegiance turns Il Campo into a racecourse packed twice every summer at the Palio, a wild horse race.
Walking out of town, I enjoy Sienese specialties at the shops along the way: gourmet pasta, aged Chianti, wild boar ham, and the city's most popular dessert: panforte.
Panforte is Siena's caloric reputation. This rich and moist mix of dried fruit, honey and candied fruit will delight cake lovers. Local bakers have their recipes from the 13th century. Some even require their employees to sign confidentiality agreements to ensure they don't reveal the special blend of spices that twists their version of this popular, super-dense cake.
The key to enjoy the Siena of the fourteenth century. Imagining a city of the 20th century at that time, it's about enjoying today's modern scene. After chewing on some of this panforte, I decided to stay here for the night, after the tour groups had boarded the buses and left the city. I go to the bar for the aperitif (happy hour), which includes an all-you-can-eat buffet, and now I'm ready to take part in a passejata , an evening stroll. I plan to return to Il Campo at sunset, where the sky is a deep blue dome, no taller than the proud towers of Sinai.