fiogf49gjkf0d FIGLINE VALDARNO
FIGLINE VALDARNO, A MEDIEVAL TOWN WHICH GREW AT
THE END OF THE C12TH, 25KM FROM FLORENCE AND
TODAY WITH 15,000 INHABITANTS, IS ONE OF THE MOST
ARTISTICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY INTERESTING TOWNS
IN THE AREA OF FLORENCE.
AT THE CENTRE OF THE TRIANGLE FORMED BY SIENA,
AREZZO AND FLORENCE, FIGLINE VALDARNO OFFERS THE
OPPORTUNITY TO THOSE WHO STAY HERE TO VISIT EACH
OF THESE HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT CITIES, OR TO
SIMPLY ENJOY EXPLORING THE SPLENDID, LUXURIOUS
TUSCAN COUNTRYSIDE.
NOT BE MISSED FLORENCE, SIENA AND AREZZO, CHIANTI
WINE TOUR.
SIENA
LYING ON THREE GENTLE HEIGHTS, BETWEEN THE
METALLIFERE HILLS AND THE CHIANTI MOUNTAINS,
SIENA SURPRISES FOR ITS URBAN LAYOUT, DOTTED WITH
TOWERS, AUSTERE PALAZZOS AND NARROW WINDING
STREETS, IN FACT, IT HAS PRESERVED ALL THE CHARM
OF A MEDIEVAL TOWN.
ETRUSCAN IN ORIGIN, ITS NAME HAS BEEN TRACED TO
THE LEGENDARY HERO SENIUS, SON OF REMUS, WHO HAD
FLED FROM ROME.
AT THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS IT WAS AN IMPORTANT ROMAN
MILITARY PRESIDIUM.
THE NERVE CENTRE OF THE VIA FRANCIGENA AND
GOVERNED BY BISHOPS UNTIL THE TENTH CENTURY, THE
TOWN, FROM THE TWELFTH CENTURY WAS RULED BY
CONSULS, UNDER WHOM IN THE MIDDLE AGES IT
PROSPERED NOTABLY, DESPITE BLOODY STRUGGLES WITH
NEIGHBOURING COMMUNES, ABOVE ALL WITH FLORENCE,
ITS MOST BITTER ENEMY.
AFTER VICTORY GAINED IN THE HISTORIC BATTLE OF
MONTAPERTI IN 1260, SIENA WAS DEFEATED IN 1269 BY
FLORENCE, AND WAS THEREFORE CONTROLLED UNTIL 1355
BY THE GUELPH GOVERNMENT OF THE NINE.
THE ECONOMIC AND ARTISTIC-CULTURAL FLOWERING OF
THIS EPOCH WAS REMARKABLE, INDEED THE MAGNIFICENT
PALAZZO PUBBLICO AND THE SLENDER MANGIA TOWER
BELONG TO THE PERIOD, BOTH FINE EXAMPLES OF
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE, AND THE PALAZZO TOLOMEI, ONE
OF THE OLDEST BUILDINGS IN SIENA.
AFTER A PERIOD OF DECLINE, FOLLOWED BY A TERRIBLE
PESTILENCE, THE TOWN, FIRST GOVERNED BY PANDOLFO
PETRUCCI THEN, MIDWAY THROUGH THE FIFTEENTH
CENTURY, BY THE SPANIARDS, IN 1559, WITH THE
TREATY OF CATEAU-CAMBR SIS, ENTERED INTO THE
STATO MEDICEO AND IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS INTO
THAT OF THE LORENESE UNTIL 1859, THE YEAR IN
WHICH IT WAS ANNEXED INTO THE KINGDOM OF ITALY.
ENCLOSED BY MIGHTY WALLS, THE ENCHANTING HISTORIC
CENTRE OF SIENA SPEADS OUT FROM PIAZZA DEL CAMPO
-THE SYMBOL OF THE TOWN AND THE HUB OF ITS CIVIC
ACTIVITIES, WITH ITS UNUSUAL SHELL SHAPE - TO
ELEGANT BUILDINGS, INCLUDING THE OUTSTANDING
DUOMO, CONTAINING WORKS OF ART OF INESTIMABLE
VALUE, THE GOTHIC CHURCHES OF S. DOMENICO AND S.
FRANCESCO, THE SPEDALE DI SANTA MARIA DELLA
SCALA, BUILT BETWEEN THE NINTH AND THE ELEVENTH
CENTURY AS A HOSPICE FOR PILGRIMS, AND NOWADAYS
THE HOME OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM.
A PRESTIGIOUS CULTURAL CENTRE, SIENA BOASTS ONE
OF THE OLDEST ITALIAN UNIVERSITIES, HOUSED IN A
TWELFTH-CENTURY MONASTERY, AND ONE OF THE MOST
PRESTIGIOUS ITALIAN BANKS, THE MONTE DEI PASCHI,
FOUNDED IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
THE TOWN ALSO CONTAINS IMPORTANT MUSEUMS, SUCH AS
THE VERY RICH NATIONAL ART GALLERY AND THE CIVIC
MUSEUM, INSTITUTIONS OF INTERNATIONAL LEVEL, LIKE
THE LIBRARY DEGLI INTRONATI, CHIGIANA MUSIC
ACADEMY AND THE FISIOCRITICI ACADEMY WHO EXHIBIT
COLLECTIONS OF GREAT SCIENTIFIC INTEREST IN THE
NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM.
FINALLY, THE GASTRONOMY OF THE PLACE IS SIMPLE,
BUT WHOLESOME, WHILE THE CRAFT TRADITION
FLOURISHES, TOGETHER WITH THE FOLKLORE AND OLD
EVENTS, ABOVE ALL THE CELEBRATED PALIO OF THE TEN
CONTRADE, THE SPECTACULAR, ATMOSPHERIC HORSE
RACE, WHICH TAKES PLACE EVERY YEAR, IN THE
SPLENDID SURROUNDINGS OF PIAZZA DEL CAMPO,
ATTRACTING HUGE CROWDS OF SPECTATORS.
PALIO DI SIENA
ON 2 JULY IN HONOUR OF THE MADONNA OF PROVENZANO,
AND 16 AUGUST IN HONOUR OF MARY THE VIRGIN
ASSUMED INTO HEAVEN, IN THE CHARMING SETTING OF
PIAZZA DEL CAMPO, IN SIENA, THE CELEBRATED PALIO
TAKES PLACE.
THIS SPECTACULAR HORSE RACE WITH VERY OLD
ORIGINS, IS THE TOWNS FESTIVAL PAR EXCELLENCE,
FOLLOWED WITH TREPIDATION BY AN IMPRESSIVE NUMBER
OF SPECTATORS.
THE PALIO DATES OFFICIALLY FROM 1656. ALTHOUGH IN
REALITY DOCUMENTS PROVE ITS EXISTENCE ALREADY IN
THE TWELFTH CENTURY.
IT IS HELD WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES OF 10 OF THE
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