Introduction
Historical BackgroundThe Contrada of the Dragon, along with the Giraffe, the Snail, and the Wave, was one of the first to appear in Piazza del Campo with its own symbol in 1494, when it participated in a “battle game.” Research shows the name of the contrada dates back to 1481, when they adopted the symbol of one of their military companies, the Company of San Donato dei Montanini. Other scholars think the name of the Dragon came from the coat of arms of the Borghesi family, others still from the Benincasa family of Saint Catherine, the protector of this area. Also, members of the contrada participated in the very first bull hunts with the symbol of the dragon, and because of that, people called them the “Dragon Men.” The oratory of this contrada was granted by Grand Duke Pietro Leopold of Tuscany in the eighteenth century. The Church of Saint Catherine and the convent belonging to the Nuns of Paradise are located on the Malavolti hill, where the powerful Malavolti family had their castle. Now the area is called Matteotti Square and hosts the main post office of the city. The nearby area called Camporegio (the king’s camp) indicates where Emperor Henry VI camped during his siege of Siena in 1186. The Contrada del Drago is part of the Terzo di Camollia (the upper third of the city); the Dragon symbolizes fieriness.
#1 Vicolo della Palla a Corda
From Salimbeni Square, with your back toward Salimbeni Palace, cross Banchi di Sopra and walk downhill on Costa dell’Incrociata (on the left side of the newsstand) until you reach Via della Sapienza.Look to your right, and you will see a nice alley, Vicolo della Palla a Corda, with its many bridges between the buildings on both sides. The alley takes it name from Palla a Corda, or “ball over a rope,” a very ancient game practiced by nobles that dates to Roman and medieval times. (In France, it was called jeu de paume, because they hit the ball with the palm of their hand.) Nowadays it has developed into the most popular game of tennis, and a net has replaced the rope. Perhaps this very alley once played host to palla a corda matches.This street looks like it leads to a dead end, but there is actually a staircase that takes you up to the movie theater and the Conad Market, then on to Piazza Matteotti. Take time to explore this small street. At number 6 is the stalla (horse stall) for the Contrada del Drago—see if you can find it.
#2 Biblioteca degli Intronati
Leave this alley and return to Via della Sapienza, which takes its name from the University of Siena (Sapienza means “wisdom”). At the beginning of this street, on the corner at your left, you will see Siena’s black and white coat of arms on the side wall of Sant’Anastasia Romana (an Orthodox church) and next to it you will see the sign of the old Museo Archeologico (archaeological museum).At numbers1–5 (on your left), you will find the Biblioteca degli Intronati. The Accademia degli Intronati was founded in the sixteenth century as a center for intellectuals and aristocrats who wanted to gather and discuss literature, philosophy, the arts, and politics. They were also involved in productions of comedies. This library was founded in 1759 when Sallustio Bandini donated his collection of books to the university and to the city of Siena and instructed his student, Giuseppe Ciaccheri, to care for it. The collections include more than four thousand manuscripts, illuminated books, the letters of Saint Catherine, and sketchbooks of Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Giuliano da Sangallo, Baldassarre Peruzzi, and Domenico Beccafumi. In the past, some BYU students have acquired library cards and checked out books and films. The library also has a nice area for children and their parents, as well as an exhibit space where rare manuscripts are on display, free to the public. You also might want to study at the library.At number 15 is the traditional Italian pensione (B & B) Albergo Bernini, where guests pay to stay in a bedroom and share a common bathroom. (They may offer some private bathrooms.) In this type of family-style accommodation, the living room and dining rooms are public access rooms where you can read a book, talk with the owners, enjoy their dog, and generally feel at home—a cozy alternative to a hotel. Breakfast is served on the terrace overlooking the Basilica Cateriniana San Domenico and the Duomo.
#3 Il Pomodorino
As you keep walking on Via della Sapienza, you will end up in Piazza San Domenico. Before you visit the church, turn left on Via di Camporegio. As you continue to the left, you will see some restaurants and more beautiful views of Siena. If you look right in front of you, you will see the cathedral on a hill and, on the left, the Torre del Mangia, the city main tower, on another hill. This is worth a stop and a few pictures.At number 13, Il Pomodorino (the little tomato) is a little pricey, but their pizza is excellent, and the view is gorgeous. Service is a little slow, but what do you expect? You are in Italy. This pizza is better than the one nearby, in Pizzeria di Nonno Mede at number 19.Take notice that behind the church on Via di Camporegio is a set of steps that can take you down to the Goose contrada and the beautiful Fontebranda fountain. This is a scenic shortcut if you want to try it someday (not now).
#4 Basilica Cateriniana di San Domenico
Retrace your steps back to the church but, before you go inside, as you are facing the side of the basilica, with the view of Siena to your left, notice just in front of you the doorway that goes into a lower chapel of the basilica (there are stairs going down). Above that door is a relief sculpture of Santa Caterina con San Domenico (Saint Catherine with Saint Dominic) with a background scene of what Siena used to look like with its medieval towers. Now walk to the entrance of the church, taking the elongated steps that lead you to the entrance. This church has its entrance on the side.Basilica Cateriniana di San Domenico (commonly called San Domenico church) is one of the most important churches in Siena. Dedicated to Santa Caterina (Saint Catherine), but named after both Saint Catherine and Saint Dominic, it was begun in 1226, after the arrival of the Dominicans in Siena. In the 1300s it was enlarged in Gothic style, and later restructured in the baroque period. The church has survived several fires, earthquakes, and wars during its long life. Like many contemporary buildings of the mendicant orders, this large edifice houses a cavernous interior space where people could gather and listen to the preachers. The exterior is brick, with a lofty bell tower on the left (this was reduced in height after an earthquake in 1798). The interior is the Egyptian cross plan with a huge nave covered by trusses and with a transept featuring high chapels.In 1466, they added Santa Caterina’s chapel at the right of the nave. There on a marble altar, inside a beautiful jeweled reliquary (a special case for religious relics), is the saint’s head, a precious relic of the most famous saint of Siena. (Her family home is located nearby.) After her death in Rome in 1380, her friar confessor, Raimondo da Capua, cut off her head to preserve it as a piece of veneration. It was brought back to Siena four years later, in 1384. The frequent visitations of this church by Saint Catherine during her life and the presence of her numerous relics today make this church specifically devoted to her followers. However, the body of Saint Catherine lies in la Basilica di Santa Maria sopra Minerva; you must go to Rome to see it!Another chapel, the Chapel of the Volte, is at the back of the nave. This is an old praying place of Dominican nuns, connected to numerous episodes of sanctity of Catherine of Siena’s life. Here, she had many visions and ecstasies, and she is said to have recited psalms together with Christ, to have exchanged her heart with His, and to have given Him her mantle when He was disguised as a pilgrim. This chapel houses the Canonization of Saint Catherine by Mattia Preti. Finally, the church’s crypt, in Gothic style, can also be visited. It houses a crucifix by Sano di Pietro and a crucifixion signed by Ventura Salimbeni (1600).
#5 Albergo Chiusarelli
As you exit the church, branching out from Saint Domenico Square, besides Via della Sapienza, you will see three additional streets: Viale dei Mille, Viale dello Stadio Comunale (that takes you to the soccer stadium), and Viale Curtatone. Take this last one.On your left, at number 15 (with the two palm trees in front), you will see the historic hotel Albergo Chiusarelli. This hotel became famous when Anne Fortier mentioned it in the book Juliet. (If you have not read it, the book tells the possible alternate origins of Romeo and Juliet’s story, here in Siena, with a fun modern twist and mystery.) This building dates to 1870 as a neoclassical villa and still has many beautiful frescoes. Breakfast is included and the beautiful nearby restaurant, the Orti di San Domenico, offers local Tuscan food.Just past number 19, on your left is the Chiesa Evangelica Valdese(Waldensian Evangelical Church). The first Evangelical groups appeared in Siena in the nineteenth century. In 1879, they built an evangelical temple in neoclassical style and a school the following year. The inside is very simple with no decorations on the wall, as per their belief. In Latter-day Saint History, you'll learn that people from the Waldensian Valleys in northern Italy were some of the first Italians to receive the message of the gospel in the latter-days.
#6 Border and Revenue Guards
Before the street turns on your left, you will see a nice building displaying an Italian flag.This building houses Siena’s main office of Border and Revenue Guards, who belong to the Italian armed forces and oversee handling financial crimes, drug trade, and smuggling.
#7 Piazza Matteotti
Do not follow Viale Curtatone on the left, but go up the steps ahead of you that lead to Matteotti Square, the heart of the Nobile Contrada del Bruco.Piazza Matteotti was originally called Colle dei Malavolti (Malavolti’s Hill), because, as you can see, and even though it was somewhat leveled in the past, it is still higher than the street you just came from. The Malavolti family was already present in Siena in the twelfth century; they had their castle here and owned all the Camporegio area. (In 1186, the camp of Henry VI was located here during his siege of Siena.) Because of the prominence of the Malavolti family and their influence in the region, members of the Dragon are still called the “People of Camporegio.”Number 21 isthe former home of the US fast food chain, McDonald’s. From the 1990s and early 2000s, the corporate giant left its mark on the city of Siena with a restaurant on this corner. Initially a hit with local teens, the traditional slow-food mentality of the Sienese eventually led to McDonald’s demise. When the store closed, the global fast food experiment in Siena also came to its end.
#8 Museo del Contrada Drago
In this same square at numbers 18–19, are the oratorio, the sede (headquarters), and the museo del Contrada Drago.The Museo del Contrada Drago includes the Hall of Victory in the basement of the Chiesa di Santa Caterina del Paradiso (Church of Saint Catherine of Paradise). This room holds the many Palio banners which the Dragon has won throughout the centuries. In the museum, you will see the oldest Palio costume that exists; it is in a Spanish design from 1839. Right in front of the sede (seat or headquarters), between the two flights of stairs is the fontana del Contrada Drago, sculpted by Vico Consorti in 1997. Strangely, a dragon is not portrayed here, but instead, a boy playing the pallone (ball) game with a number of balls. The winning ball has the red and green colors of the contrada. There is writing on the fountain that exhorts future members of the contrada to remember two previous famous priors, Mario Calamati and Alberto Rossi, and to link the past to future generations.The Chiesa di Santa Caterina del Paradiso is the oratory of the contrada. Once it belonged to the Nuns of Paradise and was given to the Dragon by a decree of the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1787. Originally built in 1479, it was refurbished in the seventeenth century. The façade is in simple brick with a baroque interior. You will see paintings by Domenico Manetti (The Virgin with Mary Magdalene and Catherine of Alexandria), Raffaello Vanni (Saint Catherine of Siena’s Mystic Matrimony), and a couple of terracotta sculptures by Lorenzo di Mariano or Marrina (Bust of Saint Catherine and The Annunciation).
#9 Metropolitan Galleria
After you leave the museo del Contrada Drago, next door at number 17 is a pedestrian underpass. Here you will find the Metropolitan Galleria, housing the Cinema Metropolitan and other useful venues.In the Metropolitan Galleria, along with the Cinema Metropolitan, is the Conad grocery store, along with other useful stores.
#10 PosteItaliane
Step back to Piazza Matteotti.At numbers 8–10 is a department store, OVS, where you will find inexpensive clothing, toiletries, and housewares. Across the piazza, is Siena’s Chamber of Commerce.At number 36 is PosteItaliane, the main post office in town. That is why the Sienese call this Piazza della Posta (the post office square). In the past, this building hosted the church and convent of Saint Egidio. Being the main office in town, this location offers extended hours without a lunch break. Come here to buy a box or padded envelope and send a package or a certified letter but buy your stamps at one of the many Tabacchi or Tobacco stores (with a big “T” sign in front of them); you will find one in this square by the Metropolitan, where you will not find a long line. Post offices in Italy also function as banks, and many retired people receive their pensions through them, so especially at the beginning or the end of the month they are very crowded. Average time for a letter to or from the US is one week. At the post office, you need to take a number and wait until it’s called or appears on a screen at the counter. Though we live in the digital age and you can connect with your loved ones at home mostly through text or social media, take the time to enjoy the lost art of writing a letter or a postcard and send it through the traditional post.
#11 Consorzio Agrario
Now you have been all around Piazza Matteotti and can move away from this square. As you are looking at the post office, walk down the main road on your right, Via Pianigiani.On your right, at number 9 is the beautiful Consorzio Agrario store. You will want to stop here as you are ending your walk. There are many pasticcerie and alimentari in Siena, but if there were one shop to make sure you visit inside, this is the queen of all food shops. You can buy typical Sienese and Tuscan specialties, cheeses (especially pecorino Toscano—Tuscan sheep’s cheese), pizzas, traditional cookies, cakes, cold cuts, and more. Reward yourself for all your hard work by stepping inside to discover the culinary treasures within.
The End
Keep walking up Via Pianigiani, and you will end up again in Piazza Salimbeni, the end of your walk. Good job.
