Sunday, October 20, 2013

SIENA: A TOWN ON A HUMAN SCALE



"SIENA IS A WORLD UNTO ITSELF IN WHICH THE PAST IS ALWAYS PRESENT AND UNAVOIDABLE".

ITALO CALVINO

Every city displays the effects of its vicissitudes, but in Siena they are more prominent and lasting, and their continuity is more explicit and sought after than elsewhere. Siena's history is quite long. Siena’s hypothesized Etruscan origins are supported by an increasing number of archaeological findings. Nonetheless, over the centuries locals have preferred to believe the lively mediaeval legend according to which the town's founder was Remus’s son Senio, who fled Rome on horseback together with his brother Aschio. With them they carried a carving of a she-wolf which was to become a symbol of Siena. Romulus’s knights followed them through Lazio and southern Tuscany, until they finally reached the fateful hill known as Siena Vecchia. According to legend, Senio and Aschio founded Siena following an almost interminable, mythological race known as “Palio alla Lunga”.


Siena’s civic history was then marked by the growing predominance of a number of upper-class merchant families such as Buonsignori, Salimbeni, Tolomei and Piccolomini that created a new oligarchy. These families were responsible for Siena’s great financial, political and cultural advent during what has nostalgically come to be considered as its Golden Age. In fact, they are still honoured by six knights that trail behind the Palio-bearing cart during the pre-race procession.

The Gothic dream

“AS I SCRUTINIZE SIENA’S ANCIENT BUILDINGS, TIMELESS DWELLINGS WHERE I WOULD LOVE TO LIVE ONE DAY WITH A WINDOW OF MY OWN OVERLOOKING THE CLAY TILES AND THE GREEN SHUTTERS, I TRY VAINLY TO UNDERSTAND WHEREIN LIES THE SECRET THAT SIENA WHISPERS AND RINGS ON AND ON IN MY EARS AS LONG AS I SHALL LIVE."

JOSÉ SARAMAGO,
NOBEL PRIZE WINNER


Siena's intact circuit of city walls is entirely made of bricks. Palazzo Pubblico and its tower are also made of bricks, as are the mediaeval dwellings built by nobles. So is Santa Maria della Scala and the other large churches dedicated to the Franciscans, Domenicans and Servi. The bricks have changed in colour over the centuries: The dark red of the oldest constructions gave way to a reddish-orange in the 1500s. The streets were originally paved with dark brown bricks laid on their edges or in a herring-bone pattern. Bricks make up the Medici Fortress and the neo-Gothic constructions undertaken in the 1600s
and 1700s, such as Palazzo Sansedoni in Piazza del Campo. The same technique was used in later centuries to build Palazzo Buonsignori, Palazzo Marsili and Palazzo del
Capitano right up to the 1900s. The neo-Gothic rebuilding of the Salicotto area was entirely carried out with bricks, as was the newly-built outlying neighbourhood called Ravacciano to which many of Salicotto's original families moved.


Gothic art, thanks to the contact occurred during the fourteenth century, with France and Venice, is one of Siena's most fascinating feature.  One of its most interesting example is the famous cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, as well the Duomo and some elements of the Town Hall located in Piazza del Campo. For nearly a century, between year 200 and 300, Siena played a starring role in Europe thanks to its mercantile aristocracy and intense banking activities. After losing its independence in 1559, Siena experienced a period of decline up to half of year 1800, when he began to grow again with the construction of the railway, which connects Siena to Empoli, and with the first University Hospital of Italy, founded in 1883. The image of Siena in the world was revived early in '900 with the birth of the great exhibition of Senese Ancient Art and the Accademia Musicale Senese Chigiana.
Art is thus what has most influenced Siena, making it one of the most visited tourist city: Piazza del Campo, the Duomo, Palazzo Comunale and the Torre del Mangia attract visitors from around the world. Another attractions of Siena is wine and food, with the Italian Wine Cellar, located in the Medici Fortress, with the sausages and the ancient Sienese sweets, like ricciarelli, gingerbread, the copate and cavalucci.


The palio

Colours, crowd, celebratory shouts, a piazza covered with tufa, ten horses ridden bareback in a race that lasts only a few seconds.  For those who are seeing it for the first time, this is the Palio. For the Sienese it is life, passion, history. It’s the miracle of a game that becomes real life, where there is a place for joy and pain, courage and intrigue, loyalty and betrayal.
A mediaeval inheritance which, on 2nd July and 16th August deeply affects Siena life and is always a catharsis.


The culture of food

Sienese cooking is steeped in history. Its vast array is fascinating to study and even more enjoyable to taste. Local starters include “bruschetta” (toasted crusty bread seasoned with
garlic and extra-virgin olive oil), “crostini” (bread rounds spread with meat or beef spleen paté) and cured meats which have been made with the same techniques for centuries, as is shown by the Cinta breed of swine depicted in Lorenzetti’s Buongoverno freso. The locally-produced sausages and cold meats -“buristo”, “capocollo”, “finocchiona”– boast a long tradition, actually two long traditions: they were produced in Fontebranda and Salicotto, where the filling was in fact salted and cooked.

Typical second courses include world- renowned Chianina beef, Cinta pork, wild boar, range chicken, pheasant, goose and pigeon. Lamb and rabbit are grilled, roated or sautéd.  Artusi, the author of one of Italy's first cookbooks, criticised Tuscans for eating too many vegetables, and Siena certainly has a vast assortment available in its gardens and woodlands. Truffles arrive from San Giovanni d’Asso and wild asparagus come from the Montagnola, while Monte Amiata provides mushrooms and wild greens. As mealtime draws to a close, syrupy “vinsanto” may be accompanied by the sweets enjoyed in Siena since the Middle Ages: “copate”, “cavallucci”, old-fashioned spiced “panforte (panpepato)” or the sweet, fruit-filled type dedicated to queen Margherita di Savoia, and finally “ricciarelli” made of sweet and bitter almonds which are Siena’s most unique and aristocratic cake.

Enoteca Italiana

Siena’s Enoteca Italiana is a public organisation which has promoted the quality of Italian wines since the 1970s. It is located in the Fortezza Medicea which Grand Duke Cosimo
I commissioned from Baldassarre Lanci in 1561. The vast catalogue of available wines is continuously updated by the tasting commission and features wines from all over Italy, with a predominance of Tuscan varieties. Siena’s wines are particularly well-represented, starting with those awarded the DOCG appellation: Vernaccia from San Gimignano, Chianti, Chianti Classico, Nobile di Montepulciano and Brunello di Montalcino. No other Italian province boasts so many different, prestigious wines. They accompany Siena’s Tuscan cuisine and express veritable complicity between towns and the surrounding countryside. of choice.

As the poet Mario Luzi wrote “It is simultaneously both reality and a dream”. And so it was for another renowned visitor, Nobel prize winner Albert Camus, who saw Siena in his youth and was later to write in his notes: “…most of all I’d like to go back and hike down the road from Monte San Savino to Siena and pass through that countryside’s vineyards and olive groves which I can still smell. I want to walk over those bluish hills of “tufa” that lead away as far as the eye can see to finally make out Siena on the horizon at sunset with its towers like some perfect Constantinople. I want to arrive at night, penniless and alone, sleep next to some wellspring and be the first to enter Piazza del Campo in the morning. That palm-frond shape seems like a hand offering up the highest achievement of humanity after ancient Greece". After all, that’s why UNESCO declared Siena’s historical centre to be a world heritage site in 1995.

30 comments:

  1. Satta King halle navi navi e tutti kuch din rowegi kuch din pice hor diya bahan de wich hovegi Play Bazaar visit here to show result

    ReplyDelete
  2. Play Bazaar good work articale is awsmmm i like wanna know about live gaming result website get satta king click here and visit us Satta King

    ReplyDelete
  3. Play Bazaar This will let you know how much their services will cost, and ensure that you do not pay more than the stated upfront cost. You do not need a surprise when it comes Satta King time to pay.

    ReplyDelete

  4. If you are planning a solar system for your home, be sure to calculate your potential energy production using the amount of sun to expect in the cloudiest month. As winter sunlight is much lower than summer, you will want to be able to plan for higher energy costs in winter. If you generate excess energy during the summer, with the right plan, your utility company will send you a check!
    play bazaar
    satta king
    Really many thank

    ReplyDelete
  5. To Play Bazaar check a bed in a hotel room for a bedbug infestation, look for certain things. You want to check the mattress and even behind the headboard for these signs. These include blood stains or small black dots that appear to be like mold or even ground pepper. Alert hotel staff the instant you find anything Satta King suspicious.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Now you are much more prepared when it comes to affiliate marketing. You thought that you were ready before, well look at you, now! Hopefully, the tips that were provided gave you some pointers that will help you get started with your affiliate marketing so that you can begin marketing like a pro.Satta King
    Satta King

    ReplyDelete
  7. Disfrute del siguiente artículo y satta king play bazaar le enseñará cómo aumentar sus ganancias potenciales y evitar errores comunes en el mercado de valores.

    ReplyDelete
  8. When considering a company blog, don't forget to invite in a guest blogger from time to time. A guest blogger can add new interest to your site and really Ganga Cassetes Find The Best Secrets To Achieving Amazing Social Media Marketing Success Here Ganga Music pick up the conversation. They can help you re-engage an audience if your blog has slowed or stalled, and they might bring in a new customer or two as well.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Make up an appropriate logo to represent your business. Doing so will give your customers something to associate with you and your products. Whenever they see that particular logo, they will automatically think of your business. Satta King Great Tips For Boosting Your Internet Marketing Success Play Bazaar Any time a customer has a logo to associate with a business is good for that business.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Before you launch a Facebook marketing campaign, prioritize your marketing goals. It's important that your profile have a message and focus on targeting a specific action. For example, use it to increase sales with frequent promotions or to get people to buy a specific line of products. A general profile will not generate that much excitement, but one that buzzes with activity will! Play Bazaar Techniques To Help You Market Through Facebook Satta King

    ReplyDelete
  11. Good work Article is awosome i like.
    by the next afternoon I'm chomping at the bit to get back to it.
    satta king
    satta bazar

    ReplyDelete
  12. Get a solid handle on the words people ACTUALLY use to find what they're looking for and you can have confidence in the keywords that you choose for SEO.satta king
    play bazaar

    ReplyDelete
  13. If you have multiple people working in your business on mobile marketing, it is important for each person to understand the plans and goals behind your company, to that everyone is working on the same page. Your team should be knowledgeable enough not to put your business in a bind, should a customer ask a question.satta king
    play bazaar

    ReplyDelete
  14. Don't forget to link back to your website in your video's description if it is posted on Facebook, YouTube or another third party website. There is no point in trying to market your brand if you don't plan to bring those customers in to your site once they're done viewing!
    satta king
    play bazaar

    ReplyDelete
  15. There are a number of sites that will allow you to log on and put in an idea or proposal. Buyers then search the available options and figure out what they would like to purchase. Freelancing is best suited for skills that involve things like programming and data entry.
    satta king

    play bazaar

    ReplyDelete
  16. The dress is usually the single most important part of the wedding, as you will want to look your best and fit at the same time. Develop a price range as to how much you want to spend on your dress and find the best one that fits your budget.
    satta king
    play bazaar

    ReplyDelete
  17. That means no high heels for women as you might find yourself standing on a chair or pew and the last thing you want to do is take a tumble and ruin the wedding! Flat shoes with a good tread will keep you stable.
    satta king
    play bazaar

    ReplyDelete
  18. Internet marketing can be a great way to advertise, but can seem impersonal to some shoppers. Shoppers like to touch, feel, and see the product they are about to purchase. Some shoppers may be put off by the inability to have a physical connection with the item, so companies should make sure they have a good return policy. This assures potential customers who are uneasy about making a purchase online that they can easily return the item if necessary.
    satta king
    play bazaar

    ReplyDelete
  19. Now you should be much more prepared when it comes to Internet marketing. The tips that were given has provided you some proven advice that can help you compete with experienced experts. We wish you every success!satta king
    play bazaar

    ReplyDelete
  20. Extraordinary pioneers consistently hold an eye to what's to come. You need to recognize what's straightaway and how to get ready for it. Obviously, you can't generally recognize what will occur, yet it is imperative to sharpen this ability after some time. Ceaselessly ask yourself where you need to be in a half year or a year, and afterward plan for that result.
    satta king
    play bazaar
    satta matka

    ReplyDelete
  21. In addition after you make your first site and experience all the strategies of getting into associate showcasing it ought to be simpler to make another on the grounds that you're as of now acquainted with the procedure. Satta King
    Play Bazaar

    ReplyDelete
  22. If so, invest in a padlock for each gate that you have. Fences provide some measure of privacy, so if a burglar is simply able to walk through the gate, they may be able to break in your home from the back without being detected.
    play bazaar
    satta king
    play bazaar

    ReplyDelete
  23. Satta king Play Bazaar
    this is a good site....it is a great idea to do business with a security company that has 24*7 hours monitoring...

    ReplyDelete
  24. ou have just read a lot of advice about starting your own home business. Hopefully you can take some of it and use it every day to make your work a true success for you.
    fitness model
    fitness

    ReplyDelete
  25. Regardless of whether it is acknowledged, perusers won't see the article with any position. Contract somebody to compose for you on the off chance that you experience difficulty.
    play bazaar
    satta king
    satta king

    ReplyDelete