Il Duomo

I took these photos today at our art history classes trip to the Duomo. The Duomo is Siena's cathedral. It was built between the 13th and the 16th centuries, and thus has architecture from many different eras. Because Siena grew so quickly at the beginning of this time period, it was the third new cathedral built on the same site. Before the cathedral, there was at one point a Roman temple to Athena. The white and black stripes are a sign of the influence from the middle east brought to Siena by the Crusades and by the Francigena Road for religious pilgrims.

The following two paintings were in a side room built by one of Siena's families which contained several popes.

The nave of the Duomo

The pulpit at the Duomo

The floor of the Duomo. This image is both Mary and Athena, representing Wisdom, and people choosing to Wisdom in place of Fortune.

Another work on the floor of the Duomo

The pulpit of the Duomo

We ran into the Contrada della Tartuca (tortoise) having a parade on Sunday afternoon! We ran into them on the Piazza del Campo

All sorts of discoveries...

Today, I have made several important discoveries:

1. Sunscreen is very expensive in Italy. The higher the SPF, the more it costs, which is unfortunate since I need higher SPF as a fair-skin blonde hair green eyes very not Italian person.

2. I found a coffee shop with very nice people where I can sit and work and it seems you don't have to stand at the bar. Especially if you put your stuff down first so they know that you are going to sit. I observed an Italian man who walked in to see what he did. Most people in Italy don't do work in coffee shops, but I am and will continue to be American and a follower of the literary culture of coffee shop socializing (started in 18th century England!).

3. Romulus and Remus were real people. They were not raised by a wolf, though.

4. Legend says that Siena was founded by a son of Remus. This is a legend.

5. I found an Italian bookstore! YES! Now I just need to figure out what to buy.

6. I learned how to say discount card and that I did not have or want one while standing at a cash register communicating only in Italian. And she either did not know English or trusted my Italian skills enough to decide I could figure it out. Maybe she saw me reading the back of the Italian sun screen bottle...

That's about it for today! It was raining this morning so I stayed inside, although yesterday I sat in the park on the fort and read a book for an hour while everyone else was in class. I plan to do that more often.

The picture at the top is one I took at la fortezza yesterday!