Siena, Italy
Siena was one of my favorite towns. I stood on top of a high wall to get this wide view of part of the town. The huge architectural phenomenon in the middle of the image is the Siena cathedral. It has such a marvelous amount of sculpture on the building and has a massive round window which reflects the blue of the sky and the beautiful clouds. I will be uploading an image of the cathedral and also a closeup of the beautiful window area. The Palio, a horse race held twice a year takes place in the center plaza of the town. The riders ride bareback. The race was used as an opening for the James Bond movie, Quantum of Solice. I have an image of this plaza.
Siena (Italian pronunciation: [ˈsjɛːna] in English sometimes spelled Sienna) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008. Siena is famous for its cuisine, art, museums, medieval cityscape and the Palio, a horse race held twice a year.
Siena, like other Tuscan hill towns, was first settled in the time of the Etruscans (c. 900–400 BC) when it was inhabited by a tribe called the Saina. The Etruscans were an advanced people who changed the face of central Italy through their use of irrigation to reclaim previously unfarmable land, and their custom of building their settlements in well-defended hill forts. A Roman town called Saena Julia was founded at the site in the time of the Emperor Augustus. The first document mentioning it dates from AD 70. Some archaeologist assert that Siena was controlled for a period by a Gaulish tribe called the Senones.
More info - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siena
Siena Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Siena) is a medieval church in Siena, Italy, dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church, and now dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta (Holy Mary, Our Lady of the Assumption).
The cathedral itself was originally designed and completed between 1215 and 1263 on the site of an earlier structure. It has the form of a Latin cross with a slightly projecting transept, a dome and a bell tower. The dome rises from a hexagonal base with supporting columns. The lantern atop the dome was added by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The nave is separated from the two aisles by semicircular arches. The exterior and interior are constructed of white and greenish-black marble in alternating stripes, with addition of red marble on the façade. Black and white are the symbolic colors of Siena, etiologically linked to black and white horses of the legendary city's founders, Senius and Aschius.
From Wikipedia
Siena, Italy
Siena was one of my favorite towns. I stood on top of a high wall to get this wide view of part of the town. The huge architectural phenomenon in the middle of the image is the Siena cathedral. It has such a marvelous amount of sculpture on the building and has a massive round window which reflects the blue of the sky and the beautiful clouds. I will be uploading an image of the cathedral and also a closeup of the beautiful window area. The Palio, a horse race held twice a year takes place in the center plaza of the town. The riders ride bareback. The race was used as an opening for the James Bond movie, Quantum of Solice. I have an image of this plaza.
Siena (Italian pronunciation: [ˈsjɛːna] in English sometimes spelled Sienna) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008. Siena is famous for its cuisine, art, museums, medieval cityscape and the Palio, a horse race held twice a year.
Siena, like other Tuscan hill towns, was first settled in the time of the Etruscans (c. 900–400 BC) when it was inhabited by a tribe called the Saina. The Etruscans were an advanced people who changed the face of central Italy through their use of irrigation to reclaim previously unfarmable land, and their custom of building their settlements in well-defended hill forts. A Roman town called Saena Julia was founded at the site in the time of the Emperor Augustus. The first document mentioning it dates from AD 70. Some archaeologist assert that Siena was controlled for a period by a Gaulish tribe called the Senones.
More info - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siena
Siena Cathedral (Italian: Duomo di Siena) is a medieval church in Siena, Italy, dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church, and now dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta (Holy Mary, Our Lady of the Assumption).
The cathedral itself was originally designed and completed between 1215 and 1263 on the site of an earlier structure. It has the form of a Latin cross with a slightly projecting transept, a dome and a bell tower. The dome rises from a hexagonal base with supporting columns. The lantern atop the dome was added by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The nave is separated from the two aisles by semicircular arches. The exterior and interior are constructed of white and greenish-black marble in alternating stripes, with addition of red marble on the façade. Black and white are the symbolic colors of Siena, etiologically linked to black and white horses of the legendary city's founders, Senius and Aschius.
From Wikipedia