Siena

Visit Siena, with its old town centre that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, just 50km from our luxury Villa in San Casciano

Siena is one of those magical cities, where every corner is steeped in history and legend. Its origins can be traced back to the Etruscan era, even if legend tells that it was founded by Senius, one of Remus’ two sons, who fled from Rome with a wolf, which remains the symbol of the city today.
With its typically medieval urban layout, there are many places that are worth a visit.

PIAZZA DEL CAMPO

This is held to be one of the most beautiful squares in the world, thanks to its distinctive shell shape with 9 wedges that can only be admired from the top of the Torre del Mangia.
Even today, this square is the hub of city life, where the 17 Contrade – city districts – face off against one another in the Palio di Siena, which is as famous as it is controversial.

TORRE DEL MANGIA

400 steps that will bestow you with a breathtaking spectacle: from way up on top of its 88 metres you can admire all of Siena, your gaze reaching right to the most distant hills. The name of the tower comes from the its first guardian, Giovanni di Duccio, renamed Mangiaguadagni by the Siena people - which literally means profits-eater - due to the fact that he squandered all his earnings by eating in the town’s taverns. Legend tells it that two good-luck coins were buried at its base when it was being built, which were to ward off thunder and lightning, along with the Latin and Hebrew inscriptions on the square stones.

SIENA CATHEDRAL

A place where the sacred and the profane come together. The floor of the cathedral is covered in esoteric symbols and religious stories, such as the Sibyls from Ancient Greek tradition, the Massacre of Innocents, the life of Moses and much more. The Piccolomini Library is found in the right-side nave, which – despite its name – has never held the books of Pope Pius II. Michelangelo did, however, work within the Piccolomini Chapel for three years at the beginning of the 1500s, creating 4 statues, which are kept in the lower recesses.
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Lovely peaceful place to stay
We picked this hotel for us to spend a few nights while we visited Florence as we wanted somewhere out in the countryside. The staff were very helpful and did what they could to tell us where things were and how to get to places as we didn't have a hire car. It is about a 20 minute walk into the town centre from the villa along a road which is not ideal, if you don't have a hire car it does make getting around quite difficult as it is quite far away from everything. There was a bus than ran hourly into Florence which was good, and the Villa had bikes to borrow free of charge, which we did and cycled to the next village. Overall, the food was fantastic, beautiful setting, great staff and nice rooms. I would recommend. "


31/07/2016