Welcome to Siena
Welcome to Siena - The city of Palio horse race in Campo square and St. Catherine Dome
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Siena is recognized as one of the most beautiful towns in the world, it has Etruscan origin, was founded in the period of Augustus Emperor and the first name was Saena Julia. Siena was mentioned the first time in a Tacito paper that attested the origin of it. Unfortunately Siena suffered the problem of the bubonic plague that was the reason of why the Dome Cathedral is incompletd even if it is really beautiful, the town was also the scenary of a battle against Florence another wonderful town in Tuscany. Siena is the town of some famous artists like Duccio da Buoninsegna or Simone Martini. The most important artist attractions that we can see are the Dome, that is famous also for St. Cathrine one of the italian and european patron, the Campo square where is located also the Mangia tower but the most famous event is the horses race Palio that is run twice a year and bring a party atmosphere. Palio is very particoular because is the reason of why the town is share in quarters that are called "contrade" and have particoular names like Tower, Wave, Goose, Eagle and so on.
Information and facts
Night-life
There are a lot of pubs and bars in which you can stay to drink a beer or a glass of good wine and you can have fun. Most of them are in the Campo square but you can find them also in other part of the town and in particoluar in the "contrade". If you want more fun you can go in discos and even if there are a lot of pubs and discos isn't a noisy town and it is peaceful.
Shopping
Near Campo square there are a lot of shops that sell all type of things from cloths to typical food and drink. You can walk along the anchient streets then you can see the cultural part of the town and at the same time have shopping.
Sightseeing
The most famous attraction that Siena offers is the Campo square with the famous Mangia Tower and here during the summer there is the horse race Palio. The atmopsphere is charming and you can sit down espacially in spring and summer to observe better the tower or the square, from here you can take a walk to get the Dome that is very near. To the side of the latter there is a marble staircase and if you look the stairs you can see an "x" it represent the place where St. Catherine fall down and there are also some legends about it like the one that she lost all his teeth. The Dome is not open all days then if you you want to vist it you need to take informations. Other important attractions are the Piccolomini library and palace and Medici fortress.
Time
Standard time zone: UCT/GMT +1 hour
Climate
Siena is characterized by a very good wheater hot summers and cool winters. After the middle of August begin to rain sometimes and the temperature decrease a bit and September become a very good month to vist the town, but if you prefer the striking coulors of the near countryside also the spring is a very great time to vist Siena.
Public transport
Siena is not so big and someone say that it is a town on human scale then you can vist walking along the streets, but if you prefer there are also some buses that are frequently and take you in the most important part of the town and you can check what you want here: http://www.sienamobilita.it/EN/orari.html.