Siena – Leather, horses, and history

Linda G. looking at Italian shoes.

Gently rubbing the soft Italian leather between my finger and thumb I muse; blue, red, yellow, or perhaps multi-coloured, undecided as to the colour of shoes I would like to buy.  

And then I hear it!  A parade is coming. 

The shoes are tossed onto the shelf: forgotten.  The scowling clerk stares after me.  She was certain that I was about to purchase a pair, or two, of shoes.  Nah! 

 

Parades, and music, and an opportunity to take yet more photographs are of greater interest to me.

 

 

 

Parade!

The advancing musicians are dressed in elaborate red, black and white costumes, advertising the mid-June medieval feast in Siena.

The participants sternly march forward, beating a tattoo on the drums, shouldering heavy flags. There is no laughter, or waving, or tossing of wrapped candies to the crowd.

This is serious business.

 

 

Siena like other Tuscan hilltop cities is said to have been founded sometime between 900 to 400 BC (BCE) by the remarkable but mysterious Etruscans.  Around 60 BC it was next colonized by Romans, reportedly Senius the son of Remus, one of the two legendary founders of Rome.  Siena's city emblem is the she-wolf that purportedly raised Remus and his brother Romulus.  

 

In the later part of the 5^th century AD (CE) the Kingdom of Lombard controlled much of Tuscany including Siena, allowing the city to prosper under the rich empire. 

The heart of the city is the huge piazza known as Il Campo the site of the famous Palio di Siena horse races held twice a year in July and August.  Unfortunately we were in Siena in June, so missed the event.  It is often a brutal and dangerous battle for the horse and bareback rider, but the city thrives on the pride this competition brings with passions and rivalry similar to a football match.   

 

 On race day a massive crowd jams the centre of the piazza, and the overflow fills in the surrounding restaurants and bars.  The brightly attired riders and horses circle the piazza three times running along the edge of the crowd, pounding over the dirt-covered cobblestone streets.  The fast treacherous turns frequently spill the riders from their mounts, leaving a rider-less horse to finish the race.  With all the pageantry, colour, singing and cheering it is a fascinating but quick race; normally over in just 90 seconds!

Lawrie and Richard G., enjoying the shade and cool drink.

We settled for the more sedate activities of Siena – shopping, eating, and sight-seeing. 

Leather, food, wine, and ancient ornate cathedrals.  It’s enough activity for us to fill the afternoon, perfectly. 

I contemplated returning to the store to buy the shoes, but reality set in.  We live year-around in the tropics, with frequent, albeit brief, rainstorms.  Fine leather shoes would turn to mouldy goop in mere weeks.   I’ll leave them for someone else to enjoy!

 

City of the Beautiful Towers (delle belle torri)

He broods in candlelit darkness - a richly clad forearm resting on a long wooden table, a chalice of good local wine in his hand.  Laws.  Stupid laws.  How can I build a suitable palace?    

San Gimignano, Tuscany, Italy June 2012

 Shaking his head in disgust, the wool merchant raises the cup to his mouth and drinks deeply of the delicious wine, wiping his mouth with his embroidered sleeve. 

Legislatori stupidi.

 

In 1255 the local lawmakers of San Gimignano, Tuscany, legislated that new buildings must not be more than 12 arm-lengths wide, and 24 arm-lengths deep to ensure that every house remained inside the stone fortifications. 

Northern Italy, particularly the area around Florence, Sienna, and San Gimignano were immensely wealthy as the merchant class flourished with a stable banking system, good sea trade routes and money to spend.  San Gimignano was a stopping point on the Via Francigena, the route that traversed the hills between Florence and Rome. 

The merchant families became rich due to the constant influx of affluent pilgrims passing through.  In time the prosperous citizens yearned to exhibit their own wealth by building grande casas and palaces.  The only solution under the current law was to go up. 

The food choices are vast.

Soon the merchant families of San Gimignano found themselves in war of status-symbols, building taller and more splendid stone towers.   At its economic height the city had a total of seventy-two distinctive tower-shaped palaces giving rise to the sobriquet of delle belle torri.

Then in 1348 the Black Plague devastated the city, killing more than half of the population.  The city faded into obscurity, gradually disintegrating as the empty towers crumbled or were torn down, the materials reused for smaller buildings. 

In the 19^th century San Gimignano was re-discovered as a tourist attraction, drawing the affluent to the city once again.  Over time the fourteen towers that had escaped the ravages of the economic disaster were restored, and the city is now classed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The colour choices bewildering.

We recently spent a day wandering the steep, winding streets of San Gimignano, weaving in and out amongst the crowd of tourists.  We dithered over colour choices for the inexpensive and well-made leather purses, shoes, and wallets. 

We perused the array of food choices, and of course the wine selections – red and white and what we called giggle juice, Prosecco, an Italian dry sparkling wine.   

Making savoury purchases for our evening meal we wandered away as the afternoon sun began to sear the stone buildings, heating the air. 

The wine choices extensive.

Time to head back to our rental house in Alberi.

Time for a cool nap.

 

As we drive up the adjoining hills, we can see the distinctive tower-spiked sky-line. 

It’s worth a stop for another photograph: delle belle torri.  San Gimignano Tuscany.

Artist painting San Gimignano - on distant hilltop.