Situated 322 metres above sea level in
the heart of Tuscany, Siena is built on three hills,
maintaining intact its medieval appearance
characterized by narrow winding streets and noble
buildings.Of Etruscan origin, it was a Roman colony with
the name of "Sena Julia";
its importance grew in the Middle Ages, first as the
seat of Lombard gastalds, and then of Counts under the
Carolingian domination.
After a long period of episcopal dominion
(9th - 11th century) the town reached a peak of power
after becoming a municipality (1147),
undertaking a policy of expansion towards the bordering
territories.
Confrontation with Florence was inevitable and the
struggle lasted, with various vicissitudes, until 1555,
when after a long siege,
Siena was conquered by the Florentines, losing its
autonomy and becoming part of the Duchy, sharing its
fortunes until unification with Italy.
The site of Siena was originally an Etruscan settlement
that later became the Roman city of Sena Julia. This
colony disappeared, but the new Siena that later
developed flourished under the Lombard kings. In the 12th
century it became a self-governing commune.
Economic rivalry and territorial conflict
with neighboring Florence, which was anti-imperial, or
Guelf, made Siena the center of pro-imperial
Ghibellinism in Tuscany. The Sienese reached the peak of
political success on September 4, 1260, when their army
crushed the Florentine at the battle of Montaperti.
Siena became an important banking
center in the 13th century but was unable to
compete with its rival, Florence. The imperial cause
declined, and the popes imposed economic sanctions
against Siena's Ghibellines merchants. Soon afterward,
Siena itself turned Guelf, and the Ghibelline nobility
lost its share of power.
The city suffered from wars and
famines and from the general economic decline that
afflicted Italy in the early 14th century,
and it was also devastated by outbreaks of the Black
Death, which began in 1348. Siena endured between 1355
and 1559 the two most troubled centuries in its history:
a long period of economic and demographic decline, of
social conflict, and of increasing instability and
tension in political life. Unstable régime followed
unstable régime; in one disastrous year, 1368, the
city's constitution was actually changed four times in
an attempt to accommodate its contending power groups
while, even more remarkably, the government structures
of Siena were actually reformed ten times between 1525
and 1552.Externally this was also a period of incessant,
purposeless and profitless warfare, although foreign
warfare was less damaging to the economy than were the
numerous visitations of marauding mercenary companies
throughout the14th and 15th centuries.This
was, in addition, a period in which the determination of
the Florentines to conquer Siena became increasingly
obvious.The Sienese attempted numerous solutions to
their difficulties, and in 1399, despite the strength of
the city's communal traditions, even resorted to the
expedient of surrendering their city into the hand of
Giangaleazzo Visconti of Milano. Visconti's rule of the
city lasted until 1404. A more positive solution was the
development of the system of government by a balia which,
in Siena, became converted into a permanent magistracy
and effectively replaced the traditional communal
councils.
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One feature of Siena's political life at
this period has always provoked comment. This was the
system of monti or ordini whose very existence seemed to
institutionalize civic strife. Each member of the ruling
èlite of Siena was a member of one of the city's five
"monti", and each "monte" competed with the others for a
monopoly of power in Siena. Attempts were made to devise
some form of power sharing by which the monti could be
brought to cooperate together, and these efforts were
not always successful.
Indeed, the periods of internal peace
in Siena were ones when such coalitions worked well.
This is the light in which we should see the period
1458-63, the pontificate of Pius II, when Siena
effectively became a papal dependency. In 1487 an exiled
aristocrat, Pandolfo Petrucci, Seized power and ruled
with brutal tyranny through a period of French and
Spanish invasions until his death in 1512. His régime
was continued by his family until 1524. This so-called
"signoria of the Petrucci" can best be understood as the
most successful power-sharing exercise of the period, in
which the Petrucci acted as peculiarly effective
chairmen of the various coalitions by which Siena was
governed.
In the early 16th century,
as the economic decline of Siena accelerated, and the
position of her ruling élite weakened in consequence,
the successful creation of such coalitions became
difficult. Siena was constantly torn by party strife and
civic turmoil and this turbulence created a kind of
political vacuum in the center of Italy from which the
French hoped to profit.
Charles V was forced to respond to
this French treat by taking an interest in the city, and
in the 2nd quarter of the century Spanish
influence in Siena became increasingly obvious. After
1530 a garrison of Spanish troops looked as if it would
guarantee the city's loyalty, but to make certain
Charles V decreed that a fortress should be built in
Siena. This action forced the Sienese into open
rebellion in 1552, and the Spanish were driven from the
city.
With sporadic French assistance, the
Sienese tried to preserve their independence for the
next three years in what has become famous as an heroic
struggle against the combined forces of Spain and Cosimo
I de' Medici. But in 1555 Siena was starved into
surrender, although fighting continued in the Sienese
contado for another four years.
Siena was governed directly by the
Spanish until 1557 when it was sold to Cosimo I de'
Medici, whose possession of the city was confirmed by
the Peace of Cateau-Chambrésis. After 1559, therefore,
the history of Siena followed that of the Grand Duchy of
Tuscany. In 1861 Siena, together with the rest of
Tuscany, was absorbed into the new Kingdom of Italy.
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Although there is still some debate
over the origins of Siena, is was most likely founded by
Etruscans. Experts have different opinions on the exact
origins of the Etruscans, but it is said that they
migrated from the Aegeo-Asian area at the end of the
12th Century BC. The Etruscans were hilltop dwellers,
and every hill had its own farmhouse just as we can
still see today in the countryside around Siena.
The Etruscans had a most fascinating
sub-terranean culture. Their belief in the afterlife,
made it important to bury the dead with everything they
might need for life after death. In Chiusi, a maze of
underground tunnels is believed to have housed the
mythical tomb of King Porsenna. Chiusi's underground
tunnels contain an extraordinary storehouse of names
bearing similarities with surnames still in use nowadays,
and the Etruscan heritage is still found as an influence
in the cuisine, and even in the DNA of the local
population.
A sample group of residents of the
town of MURLO have been tested for
their genetic makeup, in order to find out possible
genetic connections with their Etruscan forebears:
comparison with the DNA extracted from bones from the
tombs will definitely confirm if these people may still
consider themselves "Etruscans".
The Chiusi Etruscan museum, and other
Etruscans sites are within easy reach in the area around
Siena, such as Chianti, Val di Merse and throughout the
province in many museums.
san Galgano |
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In the lands near Siena there are a lot of
castels and abbeys
san Galgano
castello di Brolio
castello di Meleto
castello diSalci
The famous Chianti wine is produced in Siena
country hill
THE "PALIO
RACES" OF SIENA A
race which lasts less than 2 minutes, is the subject of
debate and competition all year round and can cause men
and women to laugh or cry; such is the Palio, the
greatest traditional festival in Siena.Siena is divided
into
seventeen contrade, or
areas of the city. The Sienese people belong first
to a contrada and then to the city. Each contrada
competes against one another in the Palio, and rivalry
and competition are an integral part of the preceding
months before the event. Ten contrade are selected for
each race, each contrada is assigned a horse, and the
horses compete in la corsa of Piazza del Campo while
thousands of people come as spectators and participants,
transforming the main piazza into a teeming sea of
people.
There are two palio races each summer;
one on the 2nd of July, and the second on the 16th
August. The festivities start three days prior to each
Palio, although the anticipation is already evident
weeks before. During this time, there are banquets,
parades, blessing of the horses and celebrations of all
kinds. During these days, there are events such as the
assigning of the horses to the ten contrade the first,
second, third and fourth trial, and the Prova Generale,
followed by the dinner of the Prova Generale for each
contrada. Contrada colors are worn by Sienese people,
and music, singing and drumming can be heard on the
streets at all times of the day or night.
On the day of the Palio, spectators crowd
into the piazza from noon on, willing to bear sun, heat
and sweat to witness this traditional event. The more
sedate will pay for seats situated around the edge of
the piazza, which are usually sold out eight months in
advance.
The piazza is sealed off minutes before
the Palio starts, and eventually (after a few false
starts), the horses are off, and it is over before the
dust settles. The winning contrada feasts and celebrates
for weeks afterwards, with banquets, replays and much
discussion, and the losing contrade can only hope that
with much preparation, plotting and luck, they will fare
better in the following race.
A wonder for all who see, this
tradition is unusual in that it is of the people of the
city - the Palio is a unique phenomenon, one that
arouses much emotion, an event that the Sienese people
hold dear to themselves, and as such is a strong
authentic tradition that is a once in a lifetime
experience to witness and enjoy. from
www.aboutsiena.com/palio-of-Siena.html |
