What a weekend! On Saturday we had a program-run day trip to Monterrigione, Siena and Greve in Chianti. Monterrigione was nostra prima fermata (our first stop). It was short and sweet; a walled city where we spent a matter of minutes. It is tiny—you can walk slowly from one city door to the other in less than a minute—with the classic Tuscan countryside rolling over the hills in every direction…incredibly peaceful at 9 in the morning.
Siena is a different story…our second and main stop of the day. The city of Siena is built in the shape of a “Y”, following the dramatic geography of the area: a Y-shaped mountain that dips into severe valleys on either side. Beginning on one of the wings, we visited San Domenico where the Sienese pay homage to their own Saint Catherine of Siena. She has quite a story; a spiritual woman from a young age who refused to marry her late-sister’s husband and gained many privileges from the sympathy of her mother, including the money to join the Dominican convent (an expensive enterprise). Inside the cathedral are kept Catherine’s head and a finger, relics of the saint stolen by her confessor immediately after her death. These mummified remains are displayed at the altar inside the sanctuary and are, in my opinion, terrifying to behold (I’ve never had the strongest stomach when it comes to human remains).
Following this most interesting of experiences, we were each given a biglietto (ticket) gaining us entrance to the Duomo, Cripta, Battistero, Meseo e Oratorio of Siena. First at the crypt, a series of stone chambers that were once completely filled with soil, rock and the holiest of Sienese remains, we observed brilliantly painted frescoes of biblical scenes. In particular, there was a set of three scenes that depicted Jesus’ crucifixion and being taken down off of the cross that was quite a bit more vibrant in color than the rest of the frescoes. The spokespeople of the museum insist that all of the frescoes in the crypt have been untouched since the discovery of the crypt in the 1960’s. Our professor-guide raised an eyebrow at this suggestion but politely stayed silent. I agree with the raised eyebrow; there is no way that a painting on stone could have lasted so colorfully for over 600 years.
The Duomo was certainly the most spectacular visit of the day. It was built during a competitive time when a city’s Duomo was the primary point of pride. This Duomo has multicolored marble stripes all along it and the sculptures on the outside are reminiscent of the Notre Dame in Paris. Both the outside and inside are extremely complex and provoke overstimulation. The floor is covered in beautiful marble mosaics, the windows are entirely stained glass scenes, the walls are made up of frescoes and more sculpture, the ceiling is painted in intricate designs with dozens of saintly busts looking down around the dome, the choir seats are carved wooden masterpieces with collages of different colors of wood depicting open cabinets filled with humanly and heavenly temptations and the pulpit is another intensely carved Pizzano masterpiece. Oy, my head is spinning just from trying to remember everything and I’m sure I didn’t even cover half of it!
A note about the pulpit though: it is from the same father and son team that carved the pulpit in Pisa—Niccola and Giovanni Pizzano—and there are many similarities (both are supported by columns held up by Lions and Lionesses with a center column supported by the figures of the Liberal Arts). However, you can tell that this is the second pulpit carved because it has an octagonal shape (compared with the simpler hexagonal shape of Pisa’s pulpit) and is much more detailed and complex (there are probably twice the number of figures carved into the Sienese pulpit and certainly more stories from the gospel are portrayed). On top of everything else, there was a huge organ with at least three different walls of pipes and I couldn’t even find the keyboards.
Oh lordy, our days are so packed that I begin to wonder how much to remember in these posts. But I suppose I will continue in excruciating detail…after all, if you didn’t want to know everything, you wouldn’t be reading this! (No, I don’t want you to stop reading this…please, leave a comment if you are going to stop reading because my posts are too long and I will filter. I write for you, my loving audience!).
Our next stop was the museum where most of the original statues (including those of Donatello) from the outside of the Duomo are kept (away from the damaging elements) as well as the masterpiece stained glass by Duccho. For the most part, all of the most important frescoes and stained glass in Siena are devoted to the Virgin Mary, to whom the victory of 1260 is devoted (no, I don’t remember what battle was won but it sure was important for the Sienese!). In fact, Mary is the one for whom the entire church was built and therefore her image must be on the altar, which is painted with brilliant color and gold.
After the Museum we were set free to find lunch and a group of us were yelled at for eating on the wrong side of the Duomo. So we walked one hundred feet across the courtyard and ate our lunches (per mè, uno panino con nutella e pesce e una mela) then visited the baptistery on our own. I much preferred the baptistery: a smaller sanctuary with a baptistery font designed by Raphael. Though every wall, ceiling and floor was a detailed work of art, it was much less overwhelming than the monstrous Duomo cathedral…very peaceful in comparison.
Our final group activity in Siena (after gelato at Grom: una piccola cona tiramisu e caramello…delicioso!) was a visit to the Palazzo Pubblico by the Piazza del Campo. This was the church/town hall where the nine governors of Siena lived, worked and stayed starting around 1316. In fact, the governors were so concerned with being non-partisan and working solely for the common good that they only left the walls of the Palazzo Pubblico on feast days when they would process across through Siena. The walls of the Palazzo were covered in frescoes that were painted for the glory and enjoyment of the entire community, as well as to constantly remind the governors that they should work towards the common good of their community (a very enlightened and democratic idea for their time). The Sienese truly believed in the intrinsic value of something that is aesthetically pleasing.
There are two bits of knowledge that I was reminded of on this adventure. The first is of the story of Remus and Romulus. They are the twins that were raised by a she-wolf and Romulus is the supposed founder of Rome. Remus ran away and had twin sons: Sieno and Assio (also supposedly raised by a she-wolf). Seino is the founder of Siena so the symbol of Siena is the she-wolf with twin baby boys at her breast. The second is that St. Catherine of Siena and St. Francis of Assisi (for whom I am named Franzesca) are the only two saints blessed with the stigmata (the markings of Christ’s crucifixion). It is always fun to remember stories told to you by your father fifteen years later. I am constantly reminded of how blessed I am to have been raised by my parents…two extremely intelligent, kind, and all-around beautiful people.
Finally we had some time to rest as our bus wound around the Chianti countryside to Greve. Here, some of us unwound at the 41st Annual Greve Wine Festival. At 4:30 in the afternoon there were already a multitude of quite inebriated Italians and tourists (including some pazzi Californians who were drunkenly bewildered at my choice of college in the Midwest). I enjoyed seven tastes of local wines for only ten Euros and tasted some of the best (and worst) wines that I have ever tasted. I am partial to the dolce, sweet wines…mostly because I simply dislike the taste of alcohol (and as my host-mother reminded me, le donne preferite dolce (women prefer sweetness). Having gained just un pó lightheadedness, I was grateful to have a bus to rest on and returned to Florence for a wonderful late-afternoon nap.
Even after that nap (and some amazing gnocchi con pesto) I was asleep by 10:30 which meant that I was awake naturally by a stunning 8:45! Having expected to sleep until noon, I excitedly joined Kari on another trip to Fiesole. And for the next five hours, we discovered a routine that we intend on repeating every Sunday possible. The bus took us up to Fiesole and the most beautiful view of Florence. We visited the art fair as well as an amazing pastry shop (we are determined to become Sunday-regulars by December) then hiked up the steep road to the Chiesa di San Francesco. Here we spent a peaceful hour journaling and writing letters. Sunday is, after all, a day of rest. I was reminded of another blessing in my life; my pastor from Palo Alto recommended that, in a strange place, I find a peaceful place of my own to relax and reflect. Some of the best advice that I have received while on this trip (dealing with homesickness and what not) and for him I am truly grateful. Thank you, Dave.
The end to a wonderful weekend could have only been made better by the best gelato that I have ever had in my life. The Gelateria de’ Medici was recommended to us by our host-mother, Daniella, and we hopped off the bus three stops early to try some Crema de’ Medici. That coupled with a lact-aid (another godsend) sent me to bed a happy woman.
I wish I were there too!!!!!
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