Day trip to San Gimignano, Volterra, and Siena

Trip Start May 14, 2008
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Trip End May 30, 2008


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Sunday, May 25, 2008

May 25 - Day trip to San Gimignano, Volterra, and Siena. We take off to visit three Chianti district towns in the Provence of Siena. Our first stop is 40 km away in San Gimignano, a small and very picturesque town with 17 towers and a wall built in the 13th century. Most of the towers were built to defend the town, but at least some are now bell towers and we're treated to some brief bell tower concerts while we're there. We walk around the winding little streets and have a nice lunch at a restaurant on the central plaza, Piazza della Cisterna (an ancient cistern is in the center). From there we go to Volterra, and I must correct myself because it is in the Provence of Pisa, but still part of the Chianti district of Tuscany. Volterra is another fortified hilltop town that goes back at least to the 3rd century B.C. It is mainly known for its Alabaster sculpture and we visit a special display in the community building there (the display runs April 24 - November 3, 2008) that features Alabaster sculptures from 1780 - 1930. There are also some displays about how artists and architects worked with alabaster and some very interesting information about the alabaster trade that sprung from Volterra and went all over the world in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Our next stop was Siena, the largest of the three towns we visited today, and although not the most picturesque, the most memorable experience. Our timing was totally luck but we arrived on a Sunday afternoon that was part of a celebration that involves the entire town. A horse race, Palio, is held twice a year, July 2 and August 16th, and is a competition/ritual that dates back to the middle ages. It is much more than a horse race and actually takes a full year of preparations and includes parties, parades, flag acrobatics, and taking horses into the church for special blessings. The event centers on the rivalry among the 17 contrade (neighborhoods) of Siena. Each contrade has its own symbol, colors, and flags. When we first entered the town a group of a dozen or so teenage girls were strolling through the streets singing a song together. Next we ran across a group of young men hanging out in the street talking and some of them twirling their contrade flags. We did not realize all of this was part of the big celebration until we were met by a full fledged parade of boys and men, dressed in medieval looking costumes (tights with two different colors for the legs) and playing drums while they paraded through town with their contrade flags. We went on to the town square, the Piazza del Campo, where the Palio is run. As we sat and had some wine at a restaurant on the piazza, a crowd began to gather, young and old with the elders dressed up and strolling and greeting each other and the young people strolling and talking on cell phones or clumping up to chat. By 7 or so the entire piazza was packed and the ceremonies began. We could not see all of it but it was a lot like a pep rally with people roughly divided into their respective contrades and taking turns cheering for their own group. The guys in the parade showed up and there was some sort of ceremony in front of the church that ended up with the 17 contrade flags flying from the second story windows of the church. As if just being a part of the emotion and city spirit of the events in the piazza weren't enough to make us love Siena, we had a great inexpensive meal (by Italian standards) at a restaurant recommended by one of Gary's friends, Osteria la Chiacchera. We ate outside (like almost every meal we've had in Italy) on a narrow street that was so steep they had to put special wedges out for the tables and chairs to be set level.
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