After our visit to the Antinori estate, we continued our journey south, and as soon as we arrived in Siena, we immediately felt the special, medieval atmosphere of the city. Although we had been to many beautiful places, Siena’s main square, Piazza del Campo, simply amazed us. This unique, shell-shaped square is not only architecturally unique, but also has a captivating energy; as people sat on the red bricks enjoying the sunshine in the shade of the town hall, Palazzo Pubblico, we also stood there for minutes, staring at the view.
Siena’s history is about pride and rivalry. According to legend, the city was founded by Senius, the nephew of Romulus, which is why we can see she-wolf statues everywhere in the city, just like in Rome. However, its real golden age was in the 13th and 14th centuries, when it was an independent republic and Florence’s biggest rival. During this period, the Sienese were the largest and most influential bankers in Europe. They amassed such vast fortunes from trade and finance that they lent to the royal courts of Europe and the papacy. Here, in 1472, they founded the Monte dei Paschi di Siena bank, which is still the oldest continuously operating financial institution in the world.
The city’s development was interrupted by the great plague of 1348, during which a significant part of the population perished and construction work, including the expansion of the hugely planned cathedral, was interrupted. However, it is thanks to this tragic halt that Siena still retains its Gothic appearance almost intact; since there was no money for Renaissance or Baroque reconstructions due to the economic decline, the city remains one of the most perfect time capsules of the Middle Ages.
Piazza del Campo was not only a square for markets and bankers, but it has also been the site of the famous Palio horse race for centuries. This race is the culmination of an ancient rivalry between the city’s 17 quarters (contrada) that still excites locals to this day. As we walked around the square, looking at the hustle and bustle of the cafés and the slender tower of the Palazzo Pubblico, the Torre del Mangia, it became clear to us that Siena is not just a city of bankers, but also one of the most beautiful bastions of tradition and Italian pride.
