Siena has quite a few surprises, namely the narrow streets making it easy to get lost in addition to the excellent views of the Tuscan hillside especially from the Torre del Mangia. Other highlights worth mentioning are the view of San Domenico from Via Diacetto, Piazza del Campo, and the striking facade of the Siena Duomo

Background

While wandering the less beaten track in search of Piazza del Campo, I stumbled on a perfect view of San Domenico from Via Diacetto. This proved at my own expense since I nearly could not find my way to Piazza del Campo and thus had to backtrack my way to the Piazza Indipendenza a few times to see where I was going. Eventually I gave up and took the tourist trail.

Piazza del Campo is the real heart of Siena where many events and festivals take place. The old Palazzo Publicco with its dominating Torre del Mangia still serves as the town hall to this day. Its design also has a historical signifcance, the nine sectors of the square represent the Council of Nine that governed the city while the Fonte Gaia with a depiction of Adam and Eve and Madona and Child, has brought fresh water into the city via an aqueduct. But in a more social sense, this sqaure is where most locals as well as visitors gather to meet at the numerous cafes and restaurants. I felt tempted to just chill out in one of the cafes than do my usual sightseeing.

The Torre del Mangia may be a long and arduous 100 metre climb at the price of a few euros, but I found it to be the best place to get excellent views of the Siena Duomo, the main square and the rest of the city and Tuscan countryside. The purpose of the belltower was to warn of impending danger, but with 505 steps in all, it would have been tiring for anyone to ring the bell for this purpose.

The last stop of the day was Siena Duomo, probably one of the most spectacular churches I have seen since visiting the Florence Duomo. One interesting, but bold, feature were the green stripes of marble on the belltower and the church. The gothic facade was also quite amazing, decorated with white and terracotta marble statues and frescoes painted on gold paint. Unfortunately, the construction of the south nave did not complete due to a plague that killed most of the population.

Technical
Canon 28-90mm and 75-300mm lenses. Kodak ISO 400 and Elitechrome 100. Canon A20 Powershot

Links
Siena tourist office