Small things in Siena

Siena is one of my favourite places in Italy and I took lots of photos there late last year. It isn’t all that far from Bagni di Lucca and now that I can drive I can go even more often. There are so many reasons to visit this gorgeous city.

Siena is such a fascinating place, with so many grand buildings, the fabulous Campo and the magnificent Duomo, it is easy to miss the delightful small things that abound all over the city.   I stayed in Siena for a couple of days in October and wandered the streets with no particular purpose in mind.  Here are some of the quirky things I spotted on my travels.

There were a few of these at the bottom of the Campo.  They must have watched a few horses fly by in the Palio races.

 

This little drummer must be kept busy during the races as well.  He watches from the grill in the drain in the Campo. He is only a few centimetres tall.

These things always remind me of the Ogden Nash poem.

As I was standing in the street,

as quiet as can be,

a great big ugly man came  up

and tied his horse to me.

The ones low on the walls were used to tie up horses or cows and the higher ones were used for banners and flags.  It must have been a colourful place at times.

There are 17 Contrade, or districts in Siena, each represented by a different animal.  There are a few obvious ones like the dragon or the she wolf, but I can’t work out why a caterpillar or a giraffe would be selected.  I suppose there is a good reason.

I have now idea what the two faces object is, but I’m glad I found it.

This is what she is looking at.

The pomegranate has a caterpillar crawling on it.  Naturally it was in the Contrada of the caterpillar.