Sabbatical 2010 Bulletin No 4 – 20th June 2010

So on to Siena. We set the satnav for the Piazza del Campo and followed the directions. The Campo is actually a pedestrian area and walking into it was breathtaking.

The Tourist Office fixed us up with a hotel and we spent the evening exploring.

(That's the Duomo, not the hotel.)

Next day was busy – an early visit to the Baptistery (good Donatellos), followed by a guided walking tour to orient ourselves, finishing at the Campo...

...where we had lunch.

After which we had a serious fresco and sculpture afternoon to see inter alia the Allegory of Good and Bad Government, frescoes in the 11th Century pilgrims’ hospital Santa Maria della Scala (only decommissioned in 1995), Duccio’s Maesta (you’ll have seen it on Christmas cards – Mary and the Infant Jesus) which was magnificent, and the cathedral – splendid bright Pintoricchio frescoes of the life of Pius II and an amazing decorated floor. Siena has a vast 13th Century Cathedral but decided about 20 years after it was completed that it needed to enlarge it (competition with Florence). However the project was abandoned because of poor ground conditions (the building cracked!). But what they built remains – the gable of a vast nave, and yes you can climb up it. With magnificent views…

Then Saturday was a day in the Tuscan countryside. So far as we can tell most Tuscan cities with any self-respect spent most of the middle ages fighting other Tuscan cities. The benefit of this to the 21st Century tourist is an ample supply of fortified hill towns. So we visited Monteriggioni

San Gimignano

and Volterra

They are superb – Sienese browns, coloured flags, chianti, panforte, views over hills, vineyards and cypress trees, even geo-thermal power stations. It wasn’t supposed to be a culture day, but we were struck by some very clear frescoes of the old and new testament in the church at San Gimignano - We could have done with some better weather however.

We have had a very good trip to Italy.