Travel Italy - Exploring the Medieval Town of Pitigliano
Take a tour of Italian Town of Pitigliano in Pitigliano, Italy -- part of the World's Greatest Attractions travel video series by GeoBeats.
Rising above the trees on a stony cliff in Tuscany is the town of Pitigliano , Italy.
The buildings of the town, many of which date back to the medieval ages, are built out of the same rock on which they rest.
The city's history of inhabitance goes back to the ancient Etruscans, though most of the existing city's architecture is more recent.
Pitigliano has also been known as Little Jerusalem due to the towns long standing Jewish community.
Today, the town is noted for its medieval history, impressive views, and elegant architecture.
Built into the cliff side is a cave, once used by the Jewish population for religious ceremonies during Roman persecution.
Some of the more important sights of the town are the cathedral, fortress, and medieval walls.
Exploring the lesser known side of Tuscany and Chianti
Does it get better than a week spent meandering the winding streets of Tuscany's historic cities, tiny hilltop towns, and Florence's storied bridges? I'll leave that up to you.
This video features footage filmed over several days in April, 2014 while visiting Tuscany as a guest of the Tuscany and Tavarnelle Val di Pesa tourism boards. The focus of the trip was not only to see what Florence had to offer (which is well known) but also what incredible opportunities can be found just outside Florence in the Chianti hills while drinking world famous Chianti Classico wines.
Learn more about my visit at
Locations featured in this video include:
Tavarnelle Val di Pesa
Tignano
Florence
Arezzo
Badia di Passignano
Palazzo Begliomini
Pieve of San Pietro in Bossolo
Pieve of San Donato in Poggio
Argento Firenze
Paganello Argriturismo / Fattoria Il Paganello
Osservatorio Astronnomico
Antinori Cantina / Vineyards
Del Giglio B&B
Poder in Chianti Cooking Classes
A special thanks as well to the Grand Hotel Minerva (Florence), Del Giglio B&B (Tavarnelle), and Il Viandante (The Wayfarer's Travel Lodge - fitting right!?) who hosted me during my visit.
Places to see in ( Siena - Italy )
Places to see in ( Siena - Italy )
Siena, a city in central Italy’s Tuscany region, is distinguished by its medieval brick buildings. The fan-shaped central square, Piazza del Campo, is the site of the Palazzo Pubblico, the Gothic town hall, and Torre del Mangia, a slender 14th-century tower with sweeping views from its distinctive white crown. The city’s 17 historic “contrade” (districts) extend outward from the piazza.
Siena is a city where the architecture soars, as do the souls of many of its visitors. Effectively a giant, open-air museum celebrating the Gothic, Siena has spiritual and secular monuments that have retained both their medieval forms and their extraordinary art collections, providing the visitor with plenty to marvel at. The city's historic contrade (districts) are marvellous too, being as close-knit and colourful today as they were in the 17th century, when their world-famous horse race, the Palio, was inaugurated. And within each contrada lie vibrant streets populated with artisanal boutiques, sweet-smelling pasticcerie (pastry shops) and tempting restaurants. It's a feast for the senses and an essential stop on every Tuscan itinerary.
Siena was a proud, wealthy, and warlike independent city-state during the Middle Ages, until its final defeat by Florence. Medieval Sienese art (painting, sculpture, architecture, etc.) is unique and of great historical importance. Some of the famous artists who lived and worked in Siena are Duccio, Simone Martini, and Ambrogio and Pietro Lorenzetti. Sienese people are fiercely proud of their city and their neighborhood (contrada). The Palio, described below, is all about neighborhood pride and rivalry, and also constitutes the unbroken continuation of a Medieval tradition associated with religion, pageantry, trash-talking, bragging, and occasional violence. It is taken very seriously and is in no way a put-on for tourists; in fact, you are likely to be less welcomed during the Palio than at any other time, and there isn't the slightest doubt that Siena would run the Palio with great enthusiasm regardless of whether any visitors ever showed up. That said, this is a city which depends and flourishes on tourism. Siena was a very poor little city for a few hundred years after its defeat, which is the main reason that its lovely Medieval buildings were never torn down and replaced with modern structures. In the 19th century, tourists started coming. Nowadays, it is a requirement that new buildings within the city walls be built to maintain the city's character and beauty - many are strikingly modern, yet fit in well.
The Piazza del Campo, the unique shell shaped piazza at the centre of the city, and twice a year the racetrack for the Palio (q.v.).
The Palazzo Pubblico, Siena's City Hall for almost 800 years, contains (amongst many other things) the famous frescos on good and bad government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, frescoes by Simone Martini and Duccio, and access to the Torre del Mangia, from whose top you can view a beautiful panorama of the Sienese countryside.
The Duomo, Siena's magnificent black and white Italian Romanesque cathedral including the Libreria Piccolomini, Baptistery (separate entrance and charge), and an attached Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (separate entrance and charge) which includes the famous Maestà by Duccio. After you've seen all the art, you can also treat yourself to a beautiful panorama from Il Facciatone in the museum. The Pinacoteca, full of Sienese painting from the city's Medieval heyday.
( Siena - Italy ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting Siena . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Siena - Italy
Join us for more :
Sienna, Tuscany, Italy to travel to Europe medieval city
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site.[2] It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008.[3] Siena is famous for its cuisine, art, museums, medieval cityscape and the Palio, a horse race held twice a year.
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Mad About Tuscany Tours
Want to experience the real Tuscany? Join us for our acclaimed 7 Night Tuscany Tour. Eat where the locals eat, explore ancient towns and visit the wineries, shops and markets that tourists would never find alone.
Meet Carlo and Sioban, your Aussie-Italian guides, and hear from some of our recent tour guests who are itching to visit again.
Want to know more about our 7 Night Tours, or book for 2017 or 2018? Visit our website, email stay@madabouttuscany.com.au or call us on +61 8 9755 2120. Ciao ciao!
Siena by Tourist by Chance
Welcome to Siena! I left Cortona and headed to beautiful Siena, a truly magical city. This is Part III of my tour of #Tuscany!
Video: touristbychance.com
Music: Sitting on top of the World Instrumental - Delta Goodrem
ITALY - A DAY in TUSCANY With medieval village of MONTECARLO
Join K & J as we drive thru the picturesque Tuscany countryside and visit the small medieval village of MONTECARLO, Tuscany before arriving at a winery owned by the same family since 1507. Produced with CyberLink PowerDirector 14
Italy - Road Trip in Tuscany - Siena, Florence, Follonica, Livorno, San Gimignano and Poggibonsi
Italy 2017 - A short recap of our vacation where we had a Italy road trip around Tuscany in the summer of 2017.
We visited places in Italy like San Gimignano, Florence (Firenze), Poggibonsi, Siena, Follonica and Livorno in our road trip. Perfect Tuscany vacation!
A street in San Gimignano Tuscany Italy
The old Francigena road that crosses the little town as it looks today in our times.
Pablo Bisquera.
Italy/Siena Duomo Part 68/84
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The Duomo in Siena lies in a piazza above the Piazza del Campo, a great Gothic building filled with treasures by Pisano, Donatello and Michelangelo as well as frescoes by Pinturicchio.
The exterior of the cathedral is pretty impressive, and if you don't have a lot of time in Siena, you might not even go inside and just enjoy the outside. Built between 1215 and 1263 on the site of an earlier structure, the cathedral is in the form of a Latin cross with a slight projecting dome and bell tower. The exterior and interiors are decorated in white and greenish-black marble in alternating stripes, black and white being the symbolic colors of Siena.If you have time to visit the cathedral, you might be tempted to skip it once you realize you have to pay to get in... but it is certainly worth it and, with the pass, it's actually a great value! The pass gets you into the cathedral as well as the baptistery, crypt and Opera museum and is valid for 3 days so it most definitely worth the 10 euros!
The Cathedral's Treasures
If you're visiting Siena after having visited Florence and its cathedral, you're in for a shock! While Florence's cathedral is immense and its cupola impressive, its interior is pretty spartan in comparison. In Siena, on the other hand, you don't know where to look. The columns continue the white/black marble striped motif and, if you look up, there are busts of past religious men of Siena looking down upon you. I recommend you take a special look at the pavement: the most impressive and beautiful of the treasures the cathedral holds are on the floor, where the pavement is decorated with the art of mosaics (using various techniques) to create storytelling masterpieces.
The 56 etched and inlaid marble panels were designed by 40 of leading artists between 1369 and 1547, all from Siena except for Bernardino di Betto, known as Pinturicchio who was Umbrian. Completion of the designs took six centuries, the last ones finished in the 1800s. Today, the mosaic panels in the nave and aisles are usually uncovered although protected from passing feet by barriers, but the most precious ones are under the apse and in the transepts and these are generally protected by special flooring since this is where people sit for mass; these are only uncovered in honor of the Palio and a pair of months during the year, often in September and October. In the Duomo's center, the only floor panel that is usually visible is in the left transept which is Matteo di Giovanni's fantastic 1481 Massacre of the Innocents (a theme with which the painter was obsessed, leaving us disturbing paintings of it in Siena in both the Palazzo Pubblico and in Santa Maria dei Servi).
The oldest designs are those in the center near the entrance - the Wheel of Fortune and the Sienese Wolf Surrounded by Symbols of Allied Cities, which dates back to 1369 but which we know have been maintained and redone throughout the centuries when it wasn't customary to protect them. Some of them have parts that are pretty worn out. Each panel has its own story - we invite you to look all around the cathedral and find the ones that appeal to you the most and then go find out about the story in the panel by buying one of the small guides in the bookshop dedicated to the pavement.