Siena

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Siena, city, central Italy, in the Toscana (Tuscany) regione. It lies about 30 miles (48 km) south of Florence. The city was important in history as a commercial and banking city until surpassed by Florence in the 13th–14th century.

The site of Siena was originally an Etruscan settlement that later became the Roman city of Sena Julia. This colony disappeared, but the new Siena that later developed flourished under the Lombard kings. In the 12th century it became a self-governing commune. Economic rivalry and territorial conflict with neighbouring Florence, which was anti-imperial, or Guelf, made Siena the centre of pro-imperial Ghibellinism in Tuscany. The Sienese reached the peak of political success on Sept. 4, 1260, when their army crushed the Florentines at the Battle of Montaperti.

Siena became an important banking centre in the 13th century but was unable to compete with its rival, Florence. The imperial cause declined, and the popes imposed economic sanctions against Siena’s Ghibelline merchants. Soon afterward, Siena itself turned Guelf, and the Ghibelline nobility lost its share of power. The city suffered from wars and famines and from the general economic decline that afflicted Italy in the early 14th century, and it was also devastated by outbreaks of the Black Death, which began in 1348. Struggles for power between factions of nobles, merchants, and the people replaced the strife between Guelfs and Ghibellines but did little to give Siena internal stability.

Despite these problems, the Sienese maintained an overall prosperity that enabled them to embellish their city with beautiful churches, palaces, towers, and fountains. In the decades of economic and moral depression following the Black Death, Siena entered an era of heightened religiosity, during which the city produced two renowned saints, Catherine and Bernardino. Siena retained its independence during the 15th century, but economic stagnation continued. In 1487 an exiled aristocrat, Pandolfo Petrucci, seized power and ruled with brutal tyranny through a period of French and Spanish invasions until his death in 1512. His regime was continued by his family until 1524. After a long and heroic defense, Siena surrendered to the Spaniards in 1555, and two years later Philip II of Spain ceded the city to Florence. In 1861 Siena, together with the rest of Tuscany, was absorbed into the new Kingdom of Italy.

Because Siena’s building activity was largely suspended in the 16th century, and because most modern building has taken place outside the city walls, Siena’s original character remains unspoiled, and Siena remains essentially a medieval town. The walls and gates enclose a city centre that is composed of narrow, winding streets and old buildings and palaces. The centre of the city is dominated by a large, shell-shaped square called the Piazza del Campo, which is the focus of Siena’s civic life. Tourists come to Siena in large numbers to view the Corsa del Palio, the famous horse races of medieval origin that are held twice annually on the Piazza del Campo amid colourful festivities. Standing alongside the square is the massive Public Palace (Palazzo Pubblico; 1297–1310), which is the seat of civil government. The interior of the Public Palace is decorated by works of the great masters of Sienese painting, including the “Maestà” of Simone Martini and frescoes by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. The palace also contains the remains of the Gaia Fountain, which was one of the finest fountains carved by the Sienese sculptor Jacopo della Quercia. To one side of the Public Palace rises the slender, 334-foot (102-metre) bell tower known as the Mangia Tower (1338–48). Among the city’s other impressive palaces are those of the Tolomei, Buonsignori, Sansedoni, and Salimbeni.

Siena’s great cathedral was begun in the 12th century in the Romanesque style but was transformed in the 13th century into one of the finest examples of Italian Gothic. The walls and columns of the church’s interior are covered with black and white marble, and its marble floors have decorative inlays by Domenico Beccafumi. Pinturicchio painted frescoes for the Piccolomini Library, which adjoins the cathedral and which was founded in 1495 by Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini, who later became Pope Pius III. A magnificent baptismal font with bas-reliefs by Jacopo della Quercia, Donatello, and Lorenzo Ghiberti distinguishes the Church of San Giovanni, which serves as the crypt for the cathedral.

Siena produced some of the greatest Italian painters of the 13th and 14th centuries; many masterpieces by Duccio di Buoninsegna, Simone Martini, Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, and Sassetta are found in Siena’s art gallery (in the Buonsignori Palace) as well as in the Public Palace and the Museum of Works of the Duomo. The latter museum also contains Duccio’s great “Maestà,” which was painted (1308–11) to celebrate the Sienese victory at Montaperti.

Siena was fortunate in escaping damage during World War II, and it now survives as a provincial town of great beauty and charm. It is also an archbishopric. The University of Siena was founded in 1240. The city has some light industry, but it is not on a major national highway or major rail route, although there is a road to Florence. Siena thrives on the visitors attracted by its artistic treasures and medieval monuments. It also serves as a market town for the surrounding agricultural area, which produces cattle, cereal grains, olives, and, above all, wines, its Chianti being perhaps the best known of all Italian wines. Pop. (2011) 52,839.