Horizons
Contrade ’ s flags
of which 10 participate in turn ) took charge of it , the Palio became the symbolic institution of the city and its inhabitants , an extraordinary popular phenomenon that permeates its life for 365 days a year , well beyond July 2 and August 16 , the traditional date of the two annual editions . “ To say Sienese and contradaiolo ( district dweller ) is a hendiadys ”, a single concept expressed with two different words , articulates Ascheri , proud exponent of the contrada of the Onda . Before going back down to the street , Professor gives us one last story , the opening at the end of the 16th century of the chair of Lingua di Toscana Favella ( Tuscan language ) desired by the Medici in only one city in Tuscany : Siena . Immediately began the dispute with Florence over which of the two had the purest language . At the beginning of the 18th century , Girolamo Gigli from Siena , a member of the ( very Florentine ) Accademia della Crusca , began to publish a dictionary which argued for the superiority of the language of his own city . Result : he was kicked out of the Crusca and his dictionary was burned in a square of Florence . During his adventurous life , Gigli also managed to write a Sienese Diary in which he recommended , for each month of the year , what to do or see in the city and its surroundings . This was the first historical and artistic guide of Siena . We confess that , hearing the professor describe the short itinerary we take after descending from the Accademia dei Rozzi , that “ Diary ” comes back to mind . “ Look at the Loggia delle Mercanzia , with its 15th century statues . Here we are at the Croce del Travaglio , the central point of Siena where the three main streets of the city meet : the one that leads to the Duomo , up there , the one that leads to Porta Romana and the third that leads to Porta Camollia , the northern entrance to the city . We take Via Banchi di Sotto , then Strada Calzoleria , absolutely not to be missed , where side by side there are houses , palaces , towers , cut arches , redone floors , of the 13th , 14th and 15th centuries . And here is Piazza Tolomei , with the great palace of the famous bankers . We go down towards the University in Via Cecco Angiolieri , the poet friend of Dante , that ’ s his house over there . We have entered the contrada of the Istrice , see ? This is the church of the contrada with attached museum …”. After a while we pass into the Leocorno , we enter the seat of the University , with its wonderful cloister and the Rector ’ s office which , lucky him , overlooks Piazza
Stained glass window of the Cathedral of Siena , designed by Duccio di Buoninsegna
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