Siena: Torre del Mangia

By the time we lugged our suitcases over all the cobblestones between our free parking space and our hotel (dealing with a nervy GPS who was mightily confused by the narrow streets winding between tall medieval buildings), got checked in to our hotel, and were ready to enjoy Siena's wonderful Il Campo, it was almost dark.

Which is not a bad time of day to view the centerpiece of the amazing square, the super-photogenic Torre del Mangia, or City Tower*. The photo above is a pretty good approximation (using my camera's "night scenery" setting) of how it looked to us. Is it not gorgeous?!

We had some gelato for dinner, then a relaxing glass of wine at the Bar Il Palio, which provides great views of the whole Campo and especially the tower. (I'll explain the bar's name in a future Siena post.) And wouldn't you know an almost full moon rose while we were drinking to make the scene even more spectacular! Thank goodness Henry's camera—which did a lot of acting up during our trip—was working this time, since it's fabulous with scenes in low light...

The next morning, while Henry was dealing with more GPS issues on the way to returning our tiny car to Hertz, I got to spend time (in between desperate texts) enjoying views of the Campo and tower in glorious morning sunshine...

As striking as the tower is, it's only part of a larger building that's just as handsome. Here are some architectural and decorative details that caught my eye...

the sun logo was designed by San Bernardino, a medieval Siena celebrity

a closer look at the sun and the wolf

I also took a stroll over the to Duomo, and here's the tower view that greets you on the way back to the Campo...so stunning!

Toward the base of the tower is a clock that we eventually learned shouldn't be depended on for time-keeping. And, hey, there's a tourist in this picture!

Yes, we decided the best way to work off all those gelato calories was to climb the tower. The viewing platform Henry's waving from here is just the first rest stop on the almost 400-step climb.

You buy your tickets (which at €10 are a little steep—ha!ha!—but the views are worth the price) in the City Hall courtyard, where the entrance to the steps is also located. 

There were lines to start the climb in the morning when I checked things out, but, surprisingly, very few tourists joined us in the late afternoon. Why wouldn't more folks want to see the sunset from up there? Who knows, but we were glad it wasn't crowded; when it is your time is limited at the top, but we were able to stay as long as we wanted.

Those steps are quite a workout, and some of the passages are a little tight. When I took the picture of Henry at the right, we weren't too far up and thought it was going to be that narrow the rest of the way. But fortunately it opens up soon after, to the relief of claustrophobes everywhere.

Here's a look down the staircase...

Yes, that's a lot of steps, but there are places to stop and admire the views, and take lots of pictures, along the way. So you can catch your breath when necessary...

The tower is over 100 meters tall, and you don't get all the way to the top, as you can see from the helpful sign on the left. But you get plenty high enough to see some amazing Siena and Tuscan scenery, as I'll show you in a minute.

But it's worth spending a little time thinking about the tower and what it signifies in European history. It was built in the middle of the fourteenth century and has always been a secular tower. Siena was one of the major cities of Italy at the time and even had a larger population than Paris. And its residents were proud to be in many ways independent of the power of the church.

The tower was built as high as it was, for example, so that it would look, on the Sienese skyline, the same height as the Duomo's campanile. (The latter is actually not nearly as tall, but it's built atop a hill.) Learn more fun facts about the tower and Siena's history at this Discover Tuscany site, as well as the Wikipedia link I provided earlier in the post.

So what about those views from the top? They are truly spectacular, as I think you'll agree.

looking west towards the Duomo

Tuscan countryside

looking east at Santa Maria di Provenzano and San Bernardino churches 

a shadow of the tower and a piece of the old city walls

One of the views I was most looking forward to was straight down, looking at the whole of Il Campo. It's so big, though, that you still can't quite get it all in one frame...

...but isn't it beautiful?!

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*No, mangia doesn't mean "city." It actually means "eat," and the torre (which does mean "tower") has that nickname because an early bell-ringer at the tower was apparently famous for his gluttony. I called it the "City Tower" because it has always housed the metropolitan government.