Urban trekking in Siena

I spoke the other day about the urban trekking series of walking maps the Siena tourist agency has put out and which are readily available in the bus station (beneath Piazza Gramsci), in the tourist office itself on Piazza del Campo and by the escalators at Porta Fontebranda.

At that time we had completed one of them and since have done the other two. There are three in the series, each corresponding (roughly) to one of the city’s terzi. The historic center (inside the walls) of Siena as many know is made up of 17 contrade, or “neighborhoods”, although they re certainly much more than that in both a physical and spiritual sense. The city is also divided into thirds, or ‘terzi” (the Italian word for third is terzo) and each “terzo comprises a certain number of contrade.

Whew. Anyway each little trek takes you through roughly one-third of the city inside the walls: the Alleys and Gardens in the shadow of the Torre trek follows much of the Terzo di San Martino, the Breathtaking Views trek takes you though the Terzo di Camollia and the Between Art and Nature trek leads you through the Terzo di Citta’.

Aside from one or two glitches in the maps and directions (see below) we can strongly recommend these little walking tours. The brochures are easy to read handy to carry and do help you find some largely unrevealed treasures (at least they were unrevealed to us).

For example, we discovered the views from the Villa Rubini on our first day in the Terzo di Camollia and walked beneath an absolutely fantastic grape arbor with the grapes still clinging to the vines.

In the Terzo di San Martino we walked or rather got lost walking through the grounds of the old psychiatric hospital but did eventually find out way down into one of the beautiful little valleys still inside the walls where an organization has created a typical medieval kitchen garden.

And in the Terzo di Citta we found our way to a largely unexplored old fonte (fountain), which was used by the nuns of a nearby convent and where you can still see how they got to the multi-tiered fonte to wash their clothes virtually completely underground. It was absolutely beautiful there and we had a truly unique view of the city walls – we also discovered a typical Tuscan rosemary bush at one of the entrances to one of Siena’s “hidden fountains”.

Wear sturdy shoes, carry some water and pack a light lunch. For example there is a beautiful spot on the Between Art and Nature Trek where there is a lovely little park just outside the walls of San Marco and you can sit and take in some of the spectacular views of the Tuscan countryside. There is also a nice sitting in front of the fountain On Viale Vittorio Veneto) next to the fortezza where you can have your lunch as well as a small park next to the church of San Francesco.

Problems with these tour maps are few but can be a bit exasperating. My only general complaint is that it would have been nice to include opening/closing times in the stop descriptions particularly of the churches they recommend you see.

Specifically, on the Breathtaking Views tour under stop no. 6, we could not find the Vicolo del Fontino let along the newly discovered fountain.

On the Between Art and Nature tour we thought the best stop on the walk was very difficult to find, the Fonte delle Monache: you actually have to leave Via delle Sperandie and walk through the gate of the provincial police barracks and then look hard for the footpath which takes you down to the fountain complex (none of which is mentioned in the description). Still the search is worth the effort we thought. Also on that same tour they misplaced stop no. 2; they have it on Via E. Bastianini and it should be back on Via del Fosso di S. Ansano. One wonders if they meant to number both of these stops since they have placed view symbols at each.

Finally on the Alleys and Gardens tours we found the walk fine until we got to the psychiatric hospital grounds, which is (and has been for some time) undergoing major renovations. As a result we got lost several times trying to find our way through the maze of old buildings, new buildings, buildings being built, well you get the point. Still it was a beautiful day for a walk and it’s not as if you’re going to be lost forever. And since both of us did attend university we eventually found our way out of the maze and back onto the tour. Note also on this walk that stop no. 7 is actually where stop 8 is listed and stop 8 should be just beyond where the little eye symbol is located.

We found these tours to be between 2 and 3 hours (tops) for us but then we have been down many of these streets although we thought suggesting all day for any of these tours is a bit much. Still when you add in potential stops – like for pranzo – and for just relaxing and seeing the city maybe spending a day on each one of these isn’t such a wild thought after all.

Buon viaggio e buon divertimento!