Thursday, June 21 – Day 24 (Cinque Terre to Siena via Pisa)
From the Cinque Terre to Siena, Pisa was a natural stop. Veering upward in permanent defiance of gravity, Pisa’s Leaning Tower is a startling sight. Tower apart, Pisa is a quaint university town that only necessitates about the two to three hour layover we allowed. Pisa’s main sights: the 11th century St. Mary’s Cathedral, the Battistero (Baptistry), and the Leaning Tower sit in an absolutely beautiful square known as Campo dei Miracol (Field of Miracles)…
But it’s the campanile, better known as the Leaning Tower (Tower Pendente) that’s the highlight. Bonanno Pisano began building the tower in 1173, but almost immediately his plans were foiled in a layer of shifting soil. Only three of the tower’s seven tiers were completed before it started tilting – continuing at a rate of about 1mm per year. Today, it is almost 4.1 meters off the perpendicular…
From the Cinque Terre to Siena, Pisa was a natural stop. Veering upward in permanent defiance of gravity, Pisa’s Leaning Tower is a startling sight. Tower apart, Pisa is a quaint university town that only necessitates about the two to three hour layover we allowed. Pisa’s main sights: the 11th century St. Mary’s Cathedral, the Battistero (Baptistry), and the Leaning Tower sit in an absolutely beautiful square known as Campo dei Miracol (Field of Miracles)…
But it’s the campanile, better known as the Leaning Tower (Tower Pendente) that’s the highlight. Bonanno Pisano began building the tower in 1173, but almost immediately his plans were foiled in a layer of shifting soil. Only three of the tower’s seven tiers were completed before it started tilting – continuing at a rate of about 1mm per year. Today, it is almost 4.1 meters off the perpendicular…
On to Siena - a truly enchanting town. From 1260 to1348, Siena was a major banking and trade center. Then the Black Death (bubonic plague) swept through Europe. Siena’s population was cut by more than one third, and the city never recovered. Basically, political and economic irrelevance pickled the city in its medieval state.
Siena itself is one big site. Action centers on Piazza del Campo (Il Campo), Siena’s great central piazza with a gently titled floor fanning out from the 102 meter Torre del Mangia (city hall tower). We found this to be a great place to enjoy some of Italy’s greatest delicacy – GELATO!..
The square and its buildings are the color of the soil upon which they stand…a color known to artists and Crayola-users as “Burnt Sienna.” The chapel located at the base of the tower was built in 1348 as thanks to God for ending the Black Death. Apparently, it should also be used to thank God that the tower - which was just plunked down on top of the chapel with no extra foundation – still stands. Here you can see the tower and the chapel at its base…
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