Pienza, San'Antimo, Siena, Perugia Pienza, San'Antimo, Siena, Perugia
We visited the city of Pienza. It was a backwater city until one of its citizens became pope. The pope, fond of his hometown, decided to spend his summers there. However, a pope cannot come alone-He brought his court of cardinals and cardinals brought their assistants and so on. As a result of the influx of bureaucrats, the city was renovated, a new Doumo and city center were constructed. The costs of these projects were three times the estimates. The architect hid this information from the pope, and the pope, when the project was completed, thanked the architect for hiding the true cost of the project, for had he known he would have put a stop to the renovations and the city would not be as beautiful as we find it today.

This is a photography of an arch along the city's walls. I sat on the wall to take the picture, the top of the wall being the slightly off center in the picture. The dark half circle is a walkway that leads to the city's main road (a pedestrian way). To the right of the wall is a 10 meter drop, and a wonderful view of a seemingly uncultivated valley.


This is a church in Tuscany, which unlike most churches in Tuscany has a history relating to the French. The French influence can be seen in the round end (apse) of the church. The church was not adorned with marble or a grand piazza, however, many students really liked this church. Included in the religious complex was the church, a convent, and a cemetery (I think). The roof of the church was supported by wooden trusses. Under the alter was a crypt. I took a photograph, but it came out fuzzy because I did not want to use a flash (there was a fresco of Jesus being laid into his crypt) on the wall.


It rained in Siena. I did not bring any rain gear, but I had long underwear and backpack which both kept me pretty warm. We were give a tour of the Doumo's Baptistery, underneath the apse of the church (it was spectacular, there was so much gold...) the Doumo (pretty dark, but darned big, and a small library dedicated to the pope mentioned above.

Siena and Florence have always been rivals, just as Pisa and Florence have always been rivals (I suppose that Florence does not play well with others...). Siena built its massive, mostly Gothic Cathedral. To top Siena, Florence built Santa Maria del Fiouri, which is larger. Siena, not willing to be bested by the Florentines, Began to enlarge it's Duomo. The Nave of the existing Doumo was to become one of the transept arms of the New Duomo (It would have been much larger than SMdF).

However, poor soil and the black death prevented the Sienese from getting any farther than a few massive columns. After the group tour of the Doumo and baptistery, the architecture students and I went to an architecture exhibition. This is a photograph from the building of the exhibition towards the Duomo. Whomever is drying their laundry on that terrance has a spectacular view of SiennaÕs Duomo.

Back to John's Page of European Adventures