Tuscany - the fairytale city of Siena and the village of Anchiano, the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci.

Hello everyone! Today I will write to you about my stay in Tuscany, i.e. Florence, where I attended the wedding of my niece, who is a painter and married an Italian. After the wedding, I went on a tour of Beautiful Tuscany with my family. I have visited several cities and today I will write to you about Siena and the village where Leonardo da Vinci was born We came to Siena by car, because that's the only way you can see the beauty of Tuscany. stop and admire.The road led through gentle hills, cypresses and vineyards, and arriving in Siena was like going back several centuries. I parked my car outside the historic center and walked to Piazza del Campo, the main square of the city.




I reached the square through a network of narrow, brick-paved streets with facades of old houses and shops with local products. The Piazza del Campo opened before me in the shape of a shell.I stood and looked at that famous facade with its tall tower, the Torre del Mangia, which rose above the entire city.
I climb the Torre del Mangia and from there I look at the panorama of Siena. Below me stretch out the red tiled roofs, the streets that converge in the square, and the hills of Tuscany in the distance.I went further to Siena Cathedral (Duomo di Siena). Its facade of white and green marble dominates the surroundings. I enter the interior and the first thing I notice are the floors — mosaics with biblical scenes. The walls and ceiling are decorated with frescoes and sculptures. I saw the Piccolomini Library, with frescoes depicting the life of Pope Pius II.I continued to the Basilica of Saint Dominic, a large brick church that houses the relics of Saint Catherine of Siena. There was silence in the church, a few visitors were sitting in prayer









While we were walking through the incredibly beautiful streets of Siena, my attention was drawn to the symbol of this city, which is found at almost every step, which is the Roman she-wolf that raised Romulus and Remus.Then we saw the fountain of happiness. The sculptures give this fountain a special beauty


What makes Piazza Campo especially famous are the famous horse races called: “Palio of Siena” which are held there and represent one of the most beautiful and difficult horse races in the world.
The square is specially prepared for this event by spreading clay and sand on it so that the horses do not slip on the smooth tiles of the square while running. The race lasts only 90 seconds. On the way out of the city, we met these wonderful creatures and petted them a little.


On my way out of town, I returned to the main square where tourists were sitting on their backpacks in the street, watching. I bought a bottle of Chianti Classico to take with me.










In the late afternoon I left Siena and headed for Anchiano, a small village near the town of Vinci, the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci. The road was different from the one to Siena - narrower, rural, with olive groves and vineyards on both sides. In Anchiano, I first went to the house where Leonardo da Vinci was born. It is a stone house, simple, restored as a small museum. I went inside, saw rooms with displays of his life, sketches of his inventions, a family tree.Not far from the house is the Leonardiana Museum in Vinci.


















I walked through the vineyards, where the workers were picking grapes. I didn't stay too long, but I did stop at a local winery. The host invited me to a wine tasting.Anchiano doesn't have many monuments, but it has a sense of reality, silence and life that flows at a different pace. I saw a few stone houses, courtyards full of flower pots.Upon returning to the car, I stopped once more at the viewpoint above Vinicia. The sky was golden, the sun was setting. Oh, how I love to see that.I thought about how I had brought together two worlds today – the first, urban, medieval, and the second, rural, simple.






I enjoyed beautiful Italy, and did you like it, we'll see?
Dragan

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