Siena and Il Palo

Our next outing as a group was to the charming city of Siena. Siena is located around an hour and ten minutes from Florence. I visited Siena once when I first came to Italy in 2018. I remembered Siena as being small and on many hills. The one thing I could remember was the Basilica di San Domenico. I remembered the church being bare and empty inside. I also remember seeing the thumb of Saint Catherine of Siena. So, I was thrilled to revisit the city. Melody and I arrived at Habana 500, our meeting point, 30 minutes early. We were too traumatized from our trip to Volterra to arrive late again.

Upon arriving in Siena, I had many flashbacks from my time there in 2018. The bus dropped us off right outside the stone walls of Siena. We then had to walk about five to seven minutes to get to the entrance of the city. I remembered that during my visit in 2018, I had sat with my grandma, mom, and uncle at a small cafe across the street from the Basilica di San Domenico. It was heartwarming to remember these memories that I thought I had completely forgotten. After we each received our headsets to listen to our tour guide, we began our journey of discovering Siena.

The first place we visited was the Basilica di San Domenico. This basilica is one of the more important churches in Siena. It is an example of the Cistercian Gothic style. 

The reason why the Basilica is not lavishly adorned, like other churches of its time period, is due to its creation being fully funded by the Dominican order. When you enter the church you are immediately stunned by the absolute silence it holds. It is required that each person who enters the church stay silent or extremely quiet so as to not disturb others who are in prayer. 

The basilica has tall ceilings with wooden beams decorating the roof. The sides of the church have various altars that were dedicated to wealthy families during the height of Siena’s prosperity. When I entered the church, I immediately felt a rush of calmness come over me. The silence was not disturbing, but rather, comforting. 

There were many families around us, some who cried and others who stared in adoration at the relics of Saint Catherine of Siena. Saint Catherine of Siena persuaded Pope Gregory XI to bring back the capital of Catholicism from France to Italy. Today, she is known as being a doctor of the church and a patron saint of Europe.