Siena

Situated a couple of hours north of Perugia, Siena traces its roots back to the time of the Etruscans over 2,500 years ago.  Our first stop was the Piazza del Campo, a central plaza that's famous for its twice-annual horse race (Il Palio), whose modern version began in 1656.

The race is effectively a two-minute, three-lap, free-for-all, in which riders from the city's various contrade (districts) compete for the chance to bring honor to their neighborhood through victory. Technically, though, the first horse to cross the finish line wins -- regardless of whether its jockey has held on for the full race.

Here's a related YouTube video that I found...

While our visit didn't correspond with either race (July 2nd and August 16th each year, if interested), the plaza still offered some interesting sights. Most notably, there's the Palazzo Publico (city hall), whose construction began in 1297. The building's bell tower (the Torre del Mangia), was completed in 1344 and, at roughly 300 feet tall, was reportedly the tallest structure in Italy at the time.

We decided to climb to the top of the tower in order to get a better view of the city as well as the surrounding countryside. It was definitely a workout, but well worth the effort as seen from the photos below.

There was a pacticularly nice view of Siena's Duomo (cathedral).

Here's a photo that I took of the tower's interior during our descent (albeit looking back up). Given that the tower walls are three meters thick, there's not a lot of space and you basically feel like your walking on a spiral staircase. And when you look at the individual bricks, it becomes quite clear how old the tower really is (thankfully, the medieval architects seem to have known what they were doing...).

Our next stop was the aforementioned Duomo, whose construction spanned the 12th and 13th centuries. I particularly liked the marble façade.

The cathedral's interior was also impressive and included works by artists such as Michaelangelo and Donatello. Here's the view from the nave.

Our ticket to the Duomo included access to an adjacent structure that offered a panoramic view of the city. I think it was called the "Panoramio" (which would make sense), though I coudn't confirm online. Here's the view of the Torre del Mangia.

We spent the balance of our time in Siena just walking around the streets of the old town. The church below caught my attention while we were walking back to the car. I like how the photo turned out with the well in the foreground.