Sainted Siena

Blessed are the also-rans. Throughout the middle ages Siena and Florence engaged in wars, diplomatic intrigue, and artistic one-upmanship, each trying to win the position as the leading city state of Tuscany. It was Florence who eventually triumphed. Florence became the Grand Duchy that attracted visitors and rulers from across Europe, that reinvested its wealth in development and industry, that even found itself for a number of years capital of Italy with all the attention that entailed. Siena lapsed into a state of forgotten gentility in comparison.

I'm sorry to say it, but: good. I bloody love Siena. If I felt that I had been cramming the world-famous attractions of Florence into the usual tourist itinerary (Doumo - Uffizi - Ponte Vecchio - Academia), forcing my way through the teeming crowds, in Siena I found myself able to relax. The city is not as hallowed, the attractions are not as famous, the streets are not as crowded. Here I could wander the narrow medieval lanes on my own, find queues small or non-existent, and simply relax, lazing in the sun of the Campo and reading. I dread to think what will happen if the sea of (largely American) tourists in Florence ever find out that this perfect medieval city sits amere 80 minute bus ride away. As a pivotal scene in this November's new Bond movie Quantum of Solace apparently takes place at Siena's Palio (when the competing neighbourhood 'contrade' race horses bareback around the town's main piazza) it surely cannot be far away. See Siena first!

Yet Siena does have some marvellous sights of its own. The Piazza del Campo is an obvious first stop. After admiring the red-brick architecture of the gothic Palazzo Pubblico, climbe the 83-metre tall Torre del Mangia for a birds-eye view over Siena and the rumpled Tuscan hills surrounding it. The Museo Civico downstairs also boasts some marvellous frescoes bigging up Siena as the good guys in their feuding wity Florence.

From here head to the duomo, a stunning zebra-striped edifice. Floor mosaics, and the Piccolomini Library, dediacted to the Sienese Pope Pius II, are the highlights here. The townsfolk once planned for the cathedral to be the largest in Christendom, and you can get to the top of the unfinished facade for more great skyhigh views via the adjacent Museo del'Opera del Duomo (though the exhibits are not particularly sensational). A joint ticket will get you into Museum, Duomo, and the crypt, home of some vivid 13th-century frescoes, recently rediscovered after 700 years.

Yet in many ways just wandering through this stunning hill-top city is its own highlight, transporting you back to its medieval heyday.

Quick Tips:

Siena is not a big place. To save money consider staying outside the town walls, as you will still be pretty near all the sights.

For those with an interest in art or history, check out the Pinacoteca Nazionale. This will provide you with a mental guide to recognising the iconic saints you will see in churches throughout the city. While Florence was embracing the renaissance, Siena was quite happy to continue with static, gold-leafed Byzantine saints. Maybe this was due to their topographies. Florence sat astride a major trading river, and looked outwards to sources of money and inspiration; Siena sat walled off on a hill, and one can imagine that may have increased Sienese xenophobia. At any rate, the parochial religious art of Siena is a complete contrast to the cosmopolitan Florentine works re-examining the classics.

One saint you will not see a lot of is Saint Catherine of Siena, despite her being probably the most famous inhabitant of the city. Her birth house is now a sanctuary, though free of tourists. Her head and finger are preserved in the Basilica de San Benedictus, though you would hardly know unless you looked for them. Still, they provide an interesting diversion.

You can eat really well in Siena. Two restaurants I would recommend are Il Carroccio (friendly service, good hearty Sienese food, a worrying tendency to ply you with grappa) and Antica Osteria da Divo (a classy ambience, exquisite and adventurous fine cuisine, and an unusual location in vaults / tombs carved into the hillside by ancient Etruscans millenia ago). Yet you can get an equally memorable dining experience on the cheap by grabbing a sandwich or gelato and sitting in the Piazza del Campo to eat it.

Finally, do not neglect the opportunity to pay a visit to San Gimignano while you are here. This tiny little hill-town is only 70 minutes away by bus. It is well on the tourist trail, but its plethora of tall towers is well worth an investigation. You can eat well there too (I'd suggest Osteria delle Catene) and try their local white wine, vernaccia. Because of the competition on the main street you can also pick up some decent bargains on sets of wine (the cheaper places seem to be those nearest the gates).

Best Way To Get Around:

Within the heart of Siena you can only walk. the idea of any vehicle other than a bike getting down some of those narrow sloping streets is pretty preposterous. I believe there are car parks around the circumference of the city however. A good way in is via a series of public escalators - for example there was one almost directly opposite my hotel that whisked me up through the hill. If you see any of the free leaflets published by the Comune di Siena in racks here, particularly the three detailing sights in the three 'Terza' of the city, get one. They feature handy maps.

Siena does have a train station, though it seems to be some way out, and trains are not as frequent as buses. For your buses, all your needs are served by the central terminus at Piazza Gramsci. The ticket office is located downstairs and can sort you out for a range of local destinations. Sadly the individual stops are not well labelled, so you might just have to hang around until you see the individual bus you need. Florence is served regularly, and the route takes 80 minutes via Poggibonsi. Another bus goes to Pisa airport, but only one seems to run a day on this route, early in the morning. One bus you will want to catch is that to San Gimignano via Monteriggioni, Colle val d'Elsa and Poggibonsi. The route takes 70 minutes each way, and costs €10.40 return. My guide books said that changing in Poggibonsi would be the rule. Nonsense. A direct bus runs every twenty minutes past the hour from Siena; the return generally leaves San Gimignano every forty minutes past the hour. Other local buses take you further into Tuscany via Montalcino, San Quirico d'Orcia and Montepulciano.

It was the service I received at the Hotel Moderno that made my stay there a cut above. The rooms there were nice enough, and its location - whilst not being in the walled old city of Siena - was as convenient as could be hoped. But it was the care and attention exhibited by the staff, particularly the receptionists, that made me feel that I would be happy to return to this hotel.

My room itself was an acceptable mid-range choice. A large double bed almost filled the room, leaving just enough space for wardrobes and desk (with TV). A window opened onto a valley facing away from the main road. And there was an en suite bathroom complete with loo, sink, bath, shower, bidet and hairdryer. All were nicely decorated and maintained. The public areas were slightly grander, with a proper reception desk, a comfy open plan bar that was seemingly modelled on an English gentleman's club, all leather armchairs and newspapers, a garden, and a restaurant (which I only went into for the complementary breakfast). The breakfast was good value actually compared to many I have had in Italy. You had the choice of a range of cereals, toast, cold meats, cakes, yogurts, fruit, juice and hot drinks.

The location also was good. It was located just under the hill which Siena stands on a main road. But almost directly across that road a series of covered public escalators lead up to beside the Basilica di San Francesco. From there it is only a five minute walk down Via dei Rossi (passing a very good gelateria - I particularly recommend the 'Madagascar') to the Campo. These escalators seem to run 24 hours a day. They are free to use - if you see a pay-machine ignore it, as that is for the attached car park. There are also racks of tourist leaflets just inside the entrance.

But as I say, it was the attentive attitude of the staff that won me over. There were two receptionists - a young woman who spoke good English and was more than happy to practice and give advise on what to do and see, and a tall stately gentleman, who could earn a fortune as a butler in my opinion. Both were impeccably presented, and the smiles they gave as you entered the lobby made you feel that you were more than welcome. Even if they were busy taking a booking over the phone when you appeared they would hook your room key straight away and give a rueful "Would love to chat, but what can you do?" shrug. When I checked out they rushed to unlock a secure cupboard where I could leave my luggage for a couple of hours. And when I finally left I was a minute down the road when I heard a shout from behind me. Turning I found the male receptionist running after me - it seems I had left my debit card behind after paying! Oops!

The hotel is not without its faults. On my first night there (a Saturday), it had been hired out for an 18th birthday party. I did not mind the scantily dressed girls clustered around the door havinga cigarette so much, but the sound of some lad slaughtering 'Let It Be' on the karaoke was enough to make me turn on the TV in an attempt to drown him out with a dubbed episode of Midsummer Murders...

I booked my stay at the Hotel Moderno through www.venere.com and was charged €150 for three nights. I think that was a good deal - the list of room charges displayed at the hotel suggested that I should have been paying nearly twice as much for my room. For the price I paid, and the service I got, I think that got a very reasonable deal, and would not hesitate to book a room there again.

The heart of Siena, in every possible sense, is Piazza del Campo, the city's main 'square'. I say 'square' because the space is no where as near as regular as the word implies. Il Campo technically means 'field', and is now a terracotta-bricked fan-shaped expanse, sloping down as if to lead the eye to the magnificent Palazzo Pubblico. Not that it needs much leading! A superb red brick 13th-century edifice with crenellations and pointed gothic windows that still looks as spruce today as it must have in its heyday.

Shaped like a scallop-shell, the floor is made of herringboned red bricks that soak up the sun. Even in March the brick underneath was warm enough to recline upon - which pretty much seems to be a favourite pastime in Siena. To all sides people chatted, read or sketched in this heavenly setting. Just watch out for cigarette butts underneath you!

An assortment of cafes and restaurants curve around the upper rim of the Campo, with tables and chairs overlooking the Piazza and Palazzo. Cheaper though is to head down one of the side streets (Chiasso Largo perhaps) to pick up a sandwich, a panini, or a slice of pizza and then recline out in the sun to consume it. Indeed, just taking a few steps away from the piazza down one of these streets you seem an age away, getting lost in the tangle of narrow streets to its rear - they slope down behind the Palazzo, and climb up steps out of the Campo before it.

The Campo also holds the Fonte Gaia, or 'Fountain of Joy'. This was a remarkable feat of engineering when first constructed in 1342 (Siena sits of course atop a hill), though the present sculptured white basin is a late 19th-century piece.

Finally the Campo is the scene of the Palio horse race that takes place twice every summer, where riders from the city's different contrade race their horses around the circumference of the Piazza, preceded by much medieval merriment and festivity. The two winning contrade are allowed to fly their banners for the next year - and as a result the blue and white checked flags of the Fish faction billowed in the breeze leading down the Via G. Dupre to the Palazzo's side. The Palio is due to be featured in November's Bond movie, 'Quantum of Solace' - and I for one cannot wait!

Siena's heart, the justly-famed Piazza del Campo, slopes down as if to lead the eye to the magnificent Palazzo Pubblico. Not that it needs much leading! A superb red brick 13th-century edifice with crenellations and pointed gothic windows that still looks as spruce today as it must have in its heyday. It still serves as Siena's city hall. Its regular outline is disturbed by just two things. A square white loggia projects out like a four-poster bed - a later addition, this was to shelter the city worthies on important civic occassions. Above climbs the soaring pencil-thin Torre del Mangia.

Entering into the Palazzo's courtyard you have two destinations. To your left a staircase leads up to the Torre from the corner - I will review this separately. Along the wall to your right is the entry to the Museo Civico, which preserves some exquisite medieval frescoes. A combined ticket for both tower and museum costs €12. Before entry have a stroll around the courtyard, open to the sky high above. There is a notable plaque on the back wall, surmounted with the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus (according to myth Sena, son of Romulus, founded ancient Siena), It commemorates St Catherine of Siena being proclaimed patron saint of Italy - 'XXVIII Aprile MCMXL - XVIII'. So that's the 28th April, 1940 years after the birth of Christ. And the XVIII? I can't help but note that 1940 would have been 18 years after Mussolini's assumption to power in Italy... Nice.

Upon entering the Museo Civico you are transported on a trip further back in time. It starts as a rather worthy place, with salons commemorating the unification of Italy etc. Nice 19th-century frescoes, but hardly rivetting. This changes once you reach the glorious gothic chapel. Here every surface is glitzily covered in a blaze of brilliant colour. Don't be distracted solely by the gilt-highlighted scenes and saints though - checking out the choir stalls is essential, their backs rich with exquisite marquetry detailing the Passion.

Next door to the chapel and half-open to it is the Sala di Mappamundo, named after the map of Sienese territory that Ambrogio Lorenzetti painted on to the walls. Sadly this map - much like Siena's empire - is now lost. Remaining however, is Simone Martini's 'Maesta', the Virgin enthroned. A throng of saints provide her entourage. Those who have visited the Pinacoteca Nazionale can have fun trying to recognise the individuals. Down the wall long wall facing the window are sketches of military matters in ochre (sienna?). There is a lovingly-detailed knight on the far wall.

Continuing through the doorway in this wall leads to the museum's crowning glory. The Sala di Pace is justly famous for Lorenzetti's 'Allegory of Good and Bad Government'. This is a remarkable setting out of the Sienese stall, a dipiction in paint and ink of what the ruling Council of Nine felt distinguished them from their neighbours and rivals (with the Medici-dominated Florence presumably being top of that list). The end wall, to your right, shows Governement allied to Justice, and working in tandem. Government is advised by a plethora of virtues - Faith, Hope and Charity, Peace, Temperence, Prudence, Magnanimity etc; Justice is informed by Wisdom. To their right is a landscape showing the results of this good governance - a well-ordering, expanding city, busy with construction, artisanry, commerce. Without the walls is a pleasant pastoral setting where drovers take livestock to market, the fields are tended, and all nature is ordered for man's benefit.

The flip side is shown on the facing wall, where a fanged and horned Tyranny is attended by Greed, Vainglory, Crudity and Anger. Justics is shackled. Their town is a decaying mess of violence and indolence. Outside, Fear stalks a razed and despoiled grey countryside, villages put to the torch. The Sienese worthies who commissioned this piece clearly believed that they were the 'good guys' in the internecine Tuscan territorial struggles. How much this virtues informed the decisions made in council though is somewhat debatable.

There is no fixed timetable of tours around the Museo, and once you enter you can saunter around at your own speed. In my view it is the chapel and Salas di Mappamundo and Pace that you should reserve the majority of your time for though - indeed Lorenzetti's Allegory necessitates a good look to pick out all the fantastic detail. There are often temporary exhibitions in the atmospheric stone cellars beneath the Palazzo too, and your ticket gives you entrance here too. Finally there is a well-stocked and quite reasonably-priced gift shop. All in all, well recommended.

At 87 metres tall, the Torre del Mangia gives an unsurpassed view over Siena, and the rolling green countryside that surrounds it.

The bell tower of the Palazzo Pubblico, the seemingly pencil-thin tower thrusts up above the Piazza del Campo. It was named after the 'spendthrift' bell-ringer, Mangiaguadagni. Having to scale these steps repeatedly seems a tough way to work for your money. Still, he was rewarded with the sort of views that money really can't buy!

Entry is from within the courtyard of the Palazzo (in the corner to your left) - a narrow flight of steps that leads up to the bigliatteria. Here you pay for entrance (€12 for a combined ticket with the Museo Civico, which I also recommend) and leave any bags you may be carrying in lockers. The number of people is carefully monitored due to the limited amount of space atop the tower, and the extreme narrowness of the way up.

Your first glimpse over the Campo will come beyond here. Essentially at this point you are atop the crenellated Palazzo, and you can get a good view over the Piazza. The tower is to your right. It is very narrow. No more than five steps per side as you wind up the square construction, but over 400 in total. Crossing people as they descend can get rather, ahem, intimate, no matter how firmly you cram yourself into a corner. And they do seem to go on and on. And on. Interminably. The narrow window slits do not provide more than a glimpse out at the view.

Maybe this is for the best, as the true spectacle that is Siena is saved for when you reach the belfry at the top. 87 metres up in the air you can see the red stone and roofs of Siena spreading below you - though not very far. If victorious Florence sprawls in a tangle of suburbs and industrial estates, defeated Siena has been left to languish in its medieval perfection as the world passed it by. Beyond the walls lush countryside ripples, fold after fold of hills, like a rumpled green bedspread. You can, as The Who once said, see for miles and miles and miles and miles and miles...

Turning your eyes back to Siena itself, the duomo sticks out, though whem I was there its main body was swathed in scaffolding and sheeting like a misplaced wedding marquee. The black and white banding of its tower is especially notable, looking like the ungainly cross of zebra and giraffe. You can also see that the frontage of the cathedral is actually higher than the apex of the roof - a trick to make the duomo look larger than it actually was. Clearly obsessed with size, you can also discern how the medieval Sienese planned to extend the cathedral, with its unfinished extension jutting out to the left as you look at it.

As the point in Siena accessible to the tourist a trip to the top of the Torre del Mangia is an unmissable and unforgettable experience. Though if you are at all scared of heights you might want to forgo - you do end up very high, and the tower is very narrow.

One of the world's most recognisable cathedrals graces the highest point in Siena. The gangly Duomo is notable for its harmonic black and white marble banding, giving it the look of a stripy stone zebra. Designed by Giovani Pisano it is quite breathtaking. Its tall frontage (taller than the actual roof of the nave) features a triple doorway. The interplay of rectangular doors, then curved arches, pointed lintels, huge circular window, and then triangular golden images glittering in the Sienes sun is quite exquisite: angle following curve following angle following curve. Plus there is a lot more ornate detail, that you cannot really see - carved saintly figures standing atop knobbly pinnacles, grotesque gargoyle waterspouts, an arcade of half-relief saints framing the window, twisted spiral columns. It is as if the architects decided to take all that was best about 13th-15th century decoration at threw it all at the facade to see what would stick. And everything did. Above stands the 77 metre high bell tower, completed in 1313. It is not as tall as the Torre del Mangia of the civic leaders. However I note that the Duomo stands on higher ground than the Palazzo Pubblico.

Green-shirted volunteers police the short queue - if you have a prepaid combined ticket (€10, which also gives you access to the Museo dell'Opera, the Baptistery, Crypt and Oratorio di San Bernardino) you are able to circumvent the queue.

Busts of 172 of the 265 popes decorate the chancel of the Duomo. It is frankly magnificent. The black and white banding of the exterior continues inside. In addition the abundance of spiral columns makes the whole place look like it is constructed of peppermint swirls. And speaking of swirls, the interior of the dome is made up of midnight blue panels, each centred on an eight-pointed star. The diagonals spiral up, drawing your eyes irresistably to the lantern. Standing here beneath the lantern an ornate pulpit by Nicola Pisano, similar to that in Pisa, stands to your left. To your right is the Capella del Voto, dedicated to the Madonna in thanks following the Sienese victory at the 1260 battle of Montaperti. Thanks are still offered to the Virgin mary here to this day - the wall outside is thickly encrusted with ex-voto offerings and motorcycle helmets!

To the left of the nave, a door leads into the Piccolomini Library. This was donated by the Sienese pope Pius III to glorify his predecessor and uncle, Pius II, also from the influential Piccolomini family. Under the watchful eyes of a woman you can circumnavigate the room. The floor is of ornate tesselated tiles. The walls look almost three-dimensional with images inside deceptive painted 'alcoves'. The artist Pinturicchio was responsible for the riot of colours and apparently the resemblance to illuminated manuscripts is intentional, as befits a library. The images are a glorification of the life of Pope Pius II, and chart notable incidents in his life. Compared to these, the illuminated choirbooks on display don't get a look in.

Back out into the main body fo the cathedral, and lower your eyes to the floor. This is the Duomo's pride and joy, an Anglo-Saxon style confection of marble inlay decoration. The sibyls run down the right-hand nave; the left has images of battles and an eye-catching Massacre of the Innocents. The central nave has larger images - ranging from depictions of events, to the medallion of Siena amidst those of her rivals (Florence, Pisa, Rome etc), to the allegorical Wheel of Fortine (ah, Boethius...).

If the exterior of the cathedral is eye-catching and memorable, the interior is an absolute delight. The contrast to the plain Duomo of Florence could not be greater. The joy exhibited in their religion in Siena makes a visit to the Duomo one of the things you absolutely must do in town.

Off to one side of the Cathedral is the museum of its treasures. The Sienese are inordinately fond of one of their chief artists, whose work is on display here, one Duccio di Buoninsegna, a comtemporary of Cimabue (Giotto's teacher). Indeed the free tourist guide published by the Opera della Metropolitana is called 'My name is Duccio'. This highlights the benefits of Biglietto Cumulativo, or combined ticket. €10 get you a ticket to this Museum, the Duomo, the cathedral's Crypt and Baptistery, and the Oratorio di San Bernardino. The latter two can easily be missed out in my view, but you get a saving with this ticket than if you were wanting to visit the Duomo, the Crypt (both of which are well worth it) and the Museo separately.

To tell the truth, the exhibits here are pretty ho hum. The works of their star man Duccio did not grab me. Maybe if they had explained more about his history and techniques I would have enjoyed it more, but instead they just had two of his greatest pieces. The 'Maesta', or enthroned Virgin was created between 1308 and 1311 for the duomo's high altar. It is a pretty darn big double-sided altarpiece, angels and saints on the front, 26 panels narrating the story of the Passion of Christ on the reverse. I preferred his huge round stained-glass window, its rich colours still vibrant. This was truly impressive.

Also located here are the original statues from the Duomo's facade, sculpted by Giovanni Pisano, amd the usual selection of monstances and mouldy relics. There is a nice room upstairs with scale-like roof panels displaying the coats of arms of (one presumes) the bishops of Siena, dating from AD78 up until the late '90s. They are not half-way across the ceiling yet...

For me the main attraction of the Museo is the access up to the roof. For the building you are actually in was once intended to be part of the cathedral. The overconfident burghers of Siena hit upon the wheeze of finally getting one over on their rivals by constructing the largest cathedral in Christendom. To this end they started constructing a shell at right angles to the existing cathedral, whose nave would hence form the transept (the 'cross-bar' of the traditional cross shape), in 1339.

Then the money ran out.

Actually, work on the enormous new edifice halted more because of the arrival of the Black Death less than a decade later, a pandemic that killed roughly a third of Europe's population, and the discovery that the very ground was unable to bear the weight of quite so much stone. My theory that Siena was bankrupted by the amount of gold leaf they used in their paintings is not backed by any reputable scholar (pah, historians! What do they know?). And so the Facciatone, or 'big facade' remained as construction halted, and life went on around it. What would have been the nave is now an actual annex to the Piazza del Duomo, Piazza Jacopo della Quercia. That shows just how big this Duomo Nuovo would have been. This unfinished skeleton wall can be accessed through the Museo, and is the best reason for a visit I would say. You climb up to a narrow walkway, that gives views across to the cathedral or the Palazzo Pubblico. It is not as high as the Torre del Mangia, but the walls are only thigh-high, and it got pretty gusty up there! I would NOT recommend taking small children up there.

I would recommend getting a €10 combined ticket, and as this gives access to the Museo you might as well go in. However, I would class the works of art on display as less worthy of your time than the view of from the facciatone, a true work of art displayed below you.

The museum is open 10:00-17:00 between 3rd November and 28th February, 09:30-19:30 1st March to 15th March, 09:30-20:00 16th March to 30th September, and 09:30-19:30 from 1st October until 2nd November.

Tucked away under the rear of the Duomo is one of Sienna's newest, and yet oldest attractions - the Crypt. Entrance is €6 (or €10 with the Biglietto Cumulativo which also gives access to the Duomo, Museo dell'Opera, Baptistery and Oratorio di San Bernardino). And it is breathtaking.

Only discovered during renovations in 1999, this hidden set of chambers beneath the Duomo's pulpit was heavily frescoed in the late 13th century... and then entirely filled with rubble in the 14th. Excavated now, the remaining patterns are well preserved, their colours glowing. You can see the deep copper sulphate blue behind Christ's crucifixion. The folds in Jesus's robes are still crisp. Columns to either side have their capitals picked out in contrasting tones, the columns themselves geometrically patterned. Notably the inscriptions are in Greek. As Mary mourns during the deposition, the expression of utter grief on her face is quite unlike the static stares that gaze out at you in the Pinacoteca. To my shock I realised that this must surely predate Giotto.

The crypt is open 10:00-17:00 between 3rd November and 28th February, 09:30-19:30 1st March to 15th March, 09:30-20:00 16th March to 30th September, and 09:30-19:30 from 1st October until 2nd November.

A good first stop in Siena is the Pinacoteca Nazionale. This houses works charting the progression of Sienese art through the Middle Ages. A lot of gold against the soul.

Medieval Sienese art was overwhelmingly religious in nature. Whereas Florentine art embraced the shift away from static iconography into realistic gestures and expressions (as exemplified by Giotto) and then sparked a Renaissance by looking for sources of inspiration outside the Church, the masters of Siena took the view that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. So on into the 16th century Sienes art featured composed tableaux of saints; the only variation would be whether they were standing or seated. And their recognisable features would remain the same - St Sebastian would be piereced with arrows, St Lawrence would seem quite comfortable posing with the griddle he was martyred on, as would St Catherine of Alexandria with her wheel. Mary Magdalene would always have her box, Francis his stigmata, and Peter his keys. John the Baptist would be in rough furs, St Augustine, in monkish brown robes, St Girolamus in the red of a cardinal. All would be haloed and highlighted with gold. I can't help think that Siena's decline was accentuated with the sheer amount of gold they were using in their paintings. What a tour of these works does give you is the chance to recognise the features of each saint. Continuing, you can play a game, trying to work out who each figure in a triptych is before you read the label: "That's St Bartholomew - that's St Anthony of Padua - that's St Anthony Abbot". Of course, on occassion they would throw in one you had never heard of to fox you - St Pantaleone anybody? This prepares you to get the most out of the other iconographic works you will see around Siena.

Artists of the Sienese school on display here include Duccio di Buoninsegna, Simone Martini, and Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti. One work in particular that I loved was Martini's picture of the Blessed Agostino Novello. Agostino may not be a saint, but he is depicted swooping down like Superman to catch a child who has fallen from a balcony or resue a man thrown from his horse. I had to get a postcard of that picture from the gift shop.

Moving down from the third floor, where you start a chronological tour, you come to later, darker works after Siena had embraced realism. Strangely, I wasn't so keen on this stuff. One painter who cropped up quite a bit was called 'Sodoma'. Well, he wasn't, but the famous art historian Vasari didn't like him and gave him this rather unflattering nickname, which stuck. Mind you, in a Deposition he does have a soldier wearing *very* close-fitting Boystown shorts...

There are maybe no outstandingly great works in Siena's Pinacoteca; it is a mere shadow of a shadow of Florence's Uffizi. However the works, even if somewhat samey, are pretty jolly. Plus, they enable you to recognise the subjects of other works you will see on your stay in Siena, and is worthwhile on that basis.

Down among the dead men I dined. Or maybe not. The IgoUgo review I read which prompted me to track down this place (not quite as straightforward a task as I had hoped) said that diners were seated in old Etruscan tombs. The blurb at Antica Osteria da Divo instead coyly describes the chambers as 'vaults'...

To find the restaurant start facing the Duomo facade, head down Via dei Fusari to its left, then dog-leg back down Via Franciosa further down the hill. Antica Osteria da Divo is through an unheralded door on your left. Inside the setting and ambiance do not quite match up. The first dining room resembles an old farm house - a barn-like space with mismatched bricks and wooden props. Steps lead down to two lower rooms. These are vaults carved into the soft tufa stone by Etruscans (an enigmatic Italian people that proved to be one of ancient Rome's fiercest opponents and then one of their first conquests). The chalky white material is smooth and cold to the touch, and the air just smelt *clean* to me. It was in the first of these rooms that I was seated. As for the ambience, well I would call it pretty posh. China and silver service, muted piped opera, and an attentive and ever-so smart waiter, who seemed to be responsible for just me and the older British couple in the corner. The prices reflect this, although they were in no way horrific. They were high enough for me to decide (after quite some humming and hahing let me tell you) to forgo the extensive wine list, and stick to bottled water.

I was welcomed with a complementary glass of bubbly and a peculiar appetiser - a small square of quiche served on a weirdly shaped spoon. Then it was time to choose from the menu - no set dinners here! In general the food on offer seemed to be locally-sourced, adventurous, and of a high calibre.

For my starter I went for smoked duck breast, wafers of vivid beet red meat ringed with white. For those whose solitary experience of duck is crispy meat filling Chinese pancakes, this was the real deal. The meat was smokey and slightly salty, tender enough that you could simply fold a piece on to your tongue and then suck it. It came with little cherry tomatoes, hollowed out and filled with some liquid cheese thing. They were nice, but I think the sweet explosion of whole cherry tomatoes would actually have offset the smoked duck better. Still - what do I know? These guys were obvious experts, as evidenced by the care that seemed to go into all aspects of the presentation. As an example, the bread basket was quite exemplary, with something for everyone - three pieces of white bread, a piece of black bread, a small brioche roll, and two slices of a sweetish sticky bread topped with something black. I asked the waiter, and apparently it was zucchini / courgette, and the bread is known as 'scaccha'.

My secondi was Sienese hand-rolled pasta (pici - like a thicker, chewier spagghetti) with lamb ragu - plenty of mince in the sauce, which was good. And then the main course. I had gone adventurous here and plumped for pigeon. Now I had never had pigeon before, though I had intended to try it in Egypt. It has come a bit more into vogue in the UK since then, with celebrity chefs raising the profile of game and 'home-grown' ingredients on TV, though the reputation of pigeons as dirty 'rats with wings' still tends to persist. However, I have now tried it, and I can say... I'm a fan of pigeon. The meat was darker than chicken, and almost nutty to the taste. It came served with mash and a red wine reduction. This latter was actually quite like a thick mulled wine - hot, plummy and damson in colour, with that alcoholic bite upon the tongue. In fact, I would say that this particular course was the best I had in Siena!

As I say, all in all Antica Osteria da Divo is not cheap - three courses and two bottles of water came to €42.50, so over £30. However, the food really is top notch, the service is high class and attentive (but not over-bearingly so), and the location is quite remarkable. If you want a memorable meal out in Siena, this has to be the place. If the ancient Etruscans had enjoyed the food here for their last meal, they must have died happy!

Trattoria la Torre is located just back from Piazza del Campo - head to the left of, surprise, surprise, the tower. A little doorway is hung with beads like a grandmother's kitchen, and outside there are press clippings raving about this place.

The cuttings were yellowing, and if this place ever had anything like glory days I fear that they may be well gone. I was not really impressed with the place. The restaurant as such was a small tiled room that looked more like a barber's, with an even smaller kitchen in one corner. As they had a set menu for €20 I went for that, with a glass of (pretty rough) red wine to drink.

My first course was pici, the local noodle-like pasta, in a meat sauce. Which was fine, except they had rather ruined it for me by dumping a load of parmesan on top without asking. Then came a pork cutlet, flavoured with rosemary and thyme. And salt. This was the fourth meal in five days I had had which I considered to be over-salted. I thought the Italians were meant to have a famously healthy diet? I'm amazed they're not all dead of heart disease if this is the level of salt they consume.

My third course was dessert. Three mandarins. Three dry and shrunken mandarins. I had to leave one of them altogether it was that wizzened.

€21.50 is maybe not much for a three course meal with wine in Siena, but I was not impressed with the quality of food and drink I experienced here. Don't have lunch here. Get a sandwich from a cafe and sit out in the sun in the Campo instead.

I decided to search out Il Carroccio after reading a review here on IgoUgo - and I'm glad I did. What I found was a brilliantly inviting little restaurant with friendly owners and truly scrumptious food.

Located down Casato di Sotto on the right hand side as you travel away from the Piazza del Campo I was a tiny bit hesitant at first as it looked a bit pretentious from the outside, with half-curtained windows. Inside however the decoration was an eclectic jumble of stuff - old wooden dressers, pictures of children on the walls, and Palio momentos. There was also a plaque featuring a snail, signifying that this restaurant was a member of the Slow Food movement, devoted to local cuisine, cooked properly and healthily, and the ingredients chosen with care. The owners were friendly - they had a (well-behaved) King Charles spaniel, and let a Canadian couple bring in their dog. I couldn't help but be envious as they fed the pooch on scraps of their bistecca fiorentina - lucky pooch! And notably, once they had managed all they could of the steak, the proprietress wrapped up the remanants in tin foil for them to take away with them for the dog. Obviously if you are a 'dog person' this is the place to come.

I started off with the antipasti Toscana - prosciutto, salami, cheese, chicken-liver bruschetta (which I was able to eat), and bruschetta with what I think was slimy offal (which I couldn't). The prosciutto was what I had come to expect of Tuscan antipasti - slivers of wafer thin melt-in-the-mouth meat that dissolved upon the tongue. There was a slightly more aged variety too, drier with a slightly smokey taste to it. To accompany the antipasti I ordered a half-litre of the house red. It came in a bulbous carafe and was jolly quaffable.

I followed my starter up with pici (Siena's local variety of pasta, thick noodles that inevitably held a good coating of whatever sauce they were in). The sauce on this occassion was lamb ragu. If I'm being critical, this was so-so. It was meaty, but not distinctively lamb-y; from the taste it could quite easily have been beef or even pork.

My main course had a touch of that about it too. I opted for Chianina veal steak (the Chianina cattle being Tuscany's most prized breed, and the only ones from whom bistecca fiorentina can traditionally made). It was one hell of a hunk, and was fully cooked through, unlike the Canadian couple's bloody bistecca. There was a touch of pinkness at its heart, but it was in no way uncooked. What surprised me was it had a taste more reminiscent of pork than of steak. Not that I'm complaining mind! Despite its size I managed to finish it all off with a grin.

After my three courses (and the three courses I'd had for lunch in San Gimignano) I felt well and truly stuffed. I was offered a quite stunning-looking golden pear flan, that under any other circumstances I would have ordered without a second doubt, but I knew it would just be a waste at this point - I'll have to come back at some point just to check whether they still have it.

I explained to the owners in faltering Italian my predicament - I was full. By this point I was the only customer left in the restaurant. Yet the proprieter merely cracked a grin and brought over to my table a decanter. The decanter contained a bed of raisins, then a layer of faded citrus slices, and it was half full of an odourless, colourless liquid. I already had a fairly good idea of what it was but I had to ask. Complimentary grappa - fierce firewater made from grape residue. Gah!

In total my meal came to €40 - three courses, a half litre of red wine, a bottle of water, and tip. That equated to £30. More than I ideally wanted to spend, but worth it for the meal and hospitality I received here.

If I was searching for saints in Siena, there was one in particular who seemed to get the biggest amount of exposure. No, not Saint Catherine of Siena - Saint Patrick of Guinness!

I tend to avoid faux-Irish bars like the plague when abroad (or even in the UK). The only exceptions I will make are when I am trying to find somewhere showing the English Premier League, and now St Patrick's night. After dinner I went seeking what Siena could offer in terms of craic.

And the craic was good. The Dublin Post is located by the bus station in Piazza Gramsci, which meant that they had a sizeable expanse of pavement outside, where they had set up a stand to cater for the sheer mass of people who had turned up to celebrate the life of a Welsh slave. In fact, with St Paddy's day falling on a Monday their (Guinness-sponsored) bunting advertised an entire 'St Patrick's Weekend', with festivities lasting over four nights. Now that's an awful lot of Guinness!

The covered stand was manned with staff wearing leprechaun outfits and face paint, or rugby shirts and 2007-vintage top hats. They had only three things on cask there - Guinness (€5), Harp lager (€4), and Kilkenny (€4). With every Guinness you got a scratch card. And every card seemed to say 'You're A Winner!'. And every winner could then claim a free foam Guinness top hat. Considering that all around the circular stand the bar was packed two deep there was a lot of top hats bobbing about.

Entertainment had been provided - a band called Will O' The Wisp, who were very good. Bodhran? Check. Fiddle? Check. Tin whistle? Check. Lyrics in Italian? Actually, that was a new one on me. To tell the truth they alternated between Italian and English. 'Dirty Old Town', Ewan MacColl's song about my hometown (well, Salford to be accurate) which gave me a momentary pang of homesickness, was in English, as was 'Molly Malone' and 'The Wild Rover' (though I was the only one shouting "God bless the Pope!"). If it had not been for the Italian lyrics and the balmy weather I would have taken them for Irish. In fact I later found out in conversation that the fiddle player did indeed hail from Belfast.

If it seemed that the whole of Piazza Gramsci was filled with revellers, inside the pub it was actually quieter - the back rooms were almost empty. Decor came straight from a kit - old Guinness posters, displays of pipes, envelopes addressed to the Guinness accounts section at St James's Gate in Dublin etc. There was also a very nice tiled floor. The queue for the toilets was ridiculous though - one cubicle for each gender!

I have to say, despite the fact that I was thousands of miles from Dublin, St Patrick's Night 2008 in Siena was the most fun I have ever had. Everyone, from the over-worked staff to the merry crowds were good-natured and well up fun. The expansion out into the square was an inspired touch, and the beer was good. Finally, the Irish music really added to the atmosphere. I couldn't help but find myself dancing along in the warm Tuscan night until the clock struck twelve, whereupon, woozy with a cocktail of Guinness, Kilkenny, red wine and grappa, I wended my way home through Siena's historic core texting friends of Irish descent to tell them what a great evening I'd had!

Considering that Siena was the birthplace of the patron saint of (among other things) nurses, firefighters, television, Italy, Europe, and Allentown, Pennsylvania I really expected the town to make a big thing of it. Assisi for instance is pretty much a town devoted to the life of Italy's other patron saint, Saint Francis. Yet if it were not for my intellectual curiosity I would probably not have known that Saint Catherine of Siena existed. The saint I heard most about during my stay was the four day festivities for Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland.

Catherine was your typical rebellious teenager. Her parents wished for her to live (to quote Wikipedia) 'a normal life' and get married; instead she devoted herself to acts of piety - praying, meditating, closing herself off from the world. Then at the age of 19 she announced that she had entered into a 'mystic marriage' with Jesus Christ. She claimed to have experienced a series of visions. Today she would probably have been locked up (she is also the patron saint of people ridiculed for their piety); instead Florence appointed her their ambassador to the Papal States. There she proved to play a central role in persuading the Papacy to return from Avignon to Rome. It was in Rome that she died of a stroke in 1380, and it is there that her body is buried. Well, most of it...

It was at the age of 16 that Catherine took the Domenican habit, and she is associated with the vast Basilica di San Domenico (Piazza San Domenico) where she attended church. It is a big barn of a place with angry violent stained glass. Here you can see an image of Saint Catherine - the only one painted of her while she was alive - kneeling with lily. They also have relics of the saint: a wizened finger, the chain she used to mortify herself with, and - in a side chapel - her head. The head is now shrunken, withered and pale, but still wears its nun's wimple. Nowhere did I see any material or signs promoting this connection.

There are some signs, though understated ones, to the Sanctuary and Birth-House of Saint Catherine on Costa di Sant'Antonio. A twentieth century courtyard with a loggia down the side and a complete lack of crowds makes you at first wonder if you have got the right place. Under the first arch you come across the heart of the small complex - she obviously came of a rather grand family. Two baroque chapels face each other, with only a bare handful of pilgrims. Go down the stairs by the gift shop to the Oratory. There are some charming pictures of the young woman here. In one she gives away her clothes, in another she cuts off her hair, in another she is little pink clad girl floating up the stairs, like something from the Exorcist.

Even in the Pinacoteca Nazionale St Catherine does not appear often - and certainly fewer times than her Alexandrian namesake. This can be explained by the later date of her canonization I suppose - by 1461 the golden age of Siena and its art was already slipping past.

I'm not really sure why I went looking for reminders of Siena's most famous inhabitant, nor what I expected to find. But this low-key treatment was certainly not it. I suppose Siena has treasures and wonders enough of its own in the purely physical, and so might feel it does not need the spiritual element that such a major religious and historical figure would present. Leave that to other less worldy cities such as Asisi (St Francis), Padova (St Anthony) or Santiago de Compostela (St James).