This stunning building is Gothic in design except for the Romanesque style Campanile. The floor is etched and inlaid marble is one of the most impressive in all of Italy. Most of the floor is generally covered and only fully on display at certain times of the year. The Duomo houses many outstanding examples of Tuscan Art and sculpture by such artists as Bernini, Michaelangelo, Benvenuto di Giovanni, Matteo di Giovanni, Domenico Beccafumi to name but a few.

We stroll around the interior in a leisurely fashion taking in the sights and trying not to get in the way of tourists taking photos.

The cathedral was built in the 1300’s between 1215 and 1263 on the site of a 9th century church.

The symbolic colors of Siena are black and white as these were the colors of the horses of the city’s legendary founders Senius and Aschius. This theme shows in both the interior and the exterior columns of black and white striped marble.

In 1999-2003 and entrance of the earlier church was uncovered and led to the discovery of 13th century frescoes depicting scenes from the life of christ and the old testament. The public are now able to visit the site.

There was a time when it was planned to make the Duomo the largest in Italy, but the black plague in 1348 brought construction to a halt as so much of the population succumbed to the disease.

Siena has a fascinating history, and the city was once a bitter rival of Florence for political and religious status.

Few cars were allowed within the city limits and seemed to be mainly cars and tonka trucks that delivering goods. As a little truck would wend its’ way up the street, everyone would squeeze into whatever space they could until it passed.

We found a little cafe and had focaccia filled with salami and fresh salad. The tomatoes are so fresh you can smell the flavor.

I just love how you can turn a corner, look up and there is a work of art nestled within the decorative elements of a building.

The amazing view as we are heading back down the road to the car. Everything I see is like a salve to my soul. I feel so much in tune with this awesome country.

We arrive back at the car to find it has been broken into. There wasn’t much in there but they have taken our mascot, Chilli and Paula’s driving glasses. Poor pickings I’m afraid, as we had been warned about this sort of thing so we had taken anything of real value with us.

So it’s back in the car and off through the winding, narrow roads through the fields of gorgeous Sunflowers, to San Gimignano. And it is very true, sunflowers do follow the sun. In the morning when we were driving to Casole d Elsa there were enormous yellow sunflowers for as far as the eye could see all standing upright facing an easterly direction, during the day they moved from east to west and at night they once again face the East.

It reminded me a bit of movie ‘The Day of The Triffids’.

Firstly we drove into the city as far as was allowed and then realised that we would have to park outside the city limits, so we drove back out to find a park. Of course the only spot available was on a hill and we had to reverse park, something neither of us are keen on at the best of times. Remebering that we are doing this in reverse to how we usually park because everything is on the opposite side of the car.

I drive forward mentally ticking off how this is supposed to work, take a big swing while reversing and back into the space. Now I usually drive a rather large Holden Statesman so I make sure I have lots of room etc. When we hop out of the car we notice a group of guys a bit further down the road, standing and laughing back at us. And when we look back at the car we can understand why. Considering we are driving a tonka toy, the exaggerated arc to park the car was quite unneccesary. We could have picked the car up and placed it in the space.

So, with the car all locked up safe and sound we set off into the city.

The Torre del Mangia was built in 1325 - 1348 and is situated in the Piazza del Campo and next to the Palazzo Pubblico which was built between 1297 and 1342. The Palazzo Pubblico is reminiscent of classic Gothic architecture and has an amazing array of frescoes.

In medieval times the Torre del Mangia was the tallest tower in Italy. It is 102m in height and is now the second tallest in Italy, after the Torrazzo in Cremona. The tower can be seen from all around Siena.

To signify that the church and the state held equal power in the region, the tower was built to be the exact same height as the Duomo.

There are excellent views over Siena and the surrounding countryside from the bell tower which has approx 500 steps to reach the viewing platform. The circular stairway is narrow and it is a tight squeeze for two way traffic on the stairs.

We stroll up and down the hilly streets exploring the shops and seeing it is so hot we stop for a gelato in a corner store.

The water in this fountain was potable and very cold, so we filled up our drink bottles after taking a long refreshing drink to cool off.

We are planning to return and would love to stay in Siena for a few days to take in the sights in a more leisurely fashion.