Introduction
Historical BackgroundThe Giraffe Contrada is a part of the Terzo di Camollia (the upper third of the city), and is and has been an affluent area of the city. Traditionally, its residents were painters, but now vocations are varied. The first documents with the name “Giraffa” on them appeared in a “battle-game” against the Snail Contrada in 1424. The next official mention of the Giraffe was in 1482, when it paraded with the Snail to celebrate the return of the reformers’ party into the government, which gratefully sent them a calf, baskets filled with bread, and a wine barrel. No one really knows where the icon of the Giraffe originates, but we know it symbolizes elegance. The colors of the contrada come from a Palio for the birthday celebration of Grand Duke Ferdinand II. He said to let the colors be “Red and white in a flaming cross,” so those colors have always stuck. Another important event happened in 1536, when a fierce brawl broke out between the Goose and the Giraffe Contradas. The riot was quelled by the Duke of Amalfi, but many wounded and a few deaths. This brawl resulted in a rivalry that was finally resolved in modern times. The Giraffe has the title of Contrada Imperiale (Imperial Contrada), which was bestowed by King Victor Emmanuel III when the Giraffe won the Palio on 2 July 1936, the year the race was dedicated to Italy’s empire in East Africa.
#1 Chapel of San Vigilio
Leave Piazza del Campo taking Via Rinaldini on the northeast side of the Piazza. (If you are standing with your back to the Palazzo Pubblico, you will see the pink palazzo on your right. Go through the street just to the right of the palazzo.) You will come to Via Banchi di Soto, turn left, and then almost immediately right on Via San Vigilio. Follow this until you get to a small piazza with the Chapel of San Vigilio, even though it belongs to the Leocorno.The Chapel of San Vigilio was originally built in 1131 and was rebuilt after a fire in 1218. The chapel has an interesting history. If you feel comfortable with your Italian, it would be worth asking one of the suore (nuns) who are almost always there to tell you a story about this church. The ceiling is covered in majestic wood paneling, and Sienese artist Raffaello Vanni painted Il Giudizio Universale for this chapel together with other lesser-known artists, a practice common in those times. The ornate baroque-style ceiling is divided into fifteen sections where Vanni painted some of his masterpieces. The engraved and ornate cornices between the paintings are covered with gold leaf. Besides paintings, this building is also known for its sculptural ornamentation, like Rocco Tamburani’s Beato Colombini and the Monumento Funebre a Marcello Biringucci by Bartolomeo Mazzuoli. In 1816, Grand Duke Ferdinand III gifted this beautiful chapel to the University of Siena.
#2 Sallustio Bandini
After leaving this church, head right up to Via Sallustio Bandini.In front of you at number 25, you will see a plaque remembering the birthplace of Sallustio Bandini (1677–1760), a famous Sienese nobleman who studied in a Jesuit college, graduated in philosophy and jurisprudence, became lecturer of canonic law, and later became archdeacon. He loved knowledge and education immensely, and collected many books and manuscripts in his personal library that he donated to the city of Siena at the end of his life. On the brick façade of Bandini’s home, you will see a series of seahorse heads with a ring on them—during the Renaissance period, these were “parking stalls” for horses.
#3 Insigne Collegiatta di Santa Maria di Provenzano
Turn left on Via Sallustio Bandini, and turn right on Via Lucherini. Follow this road to the end and you will arrive at the famous Piazza di Provenzano. At the heart of this piazza stands the magnificent Insigne Collegiata di Santa Maria di Provenzano, A Roman Catholic church.The Insigne Collegiata di Santa Maria di Provenzano is one of the jewels of the Giraffe. Its story is entwined in culture, history, legend, art, and miracles. The legend begins before the church was built, when the piazza was home to a statue of the Madonna. A bold Spaniard with a blunderbuss, in an act of bravado, shot at the statue. However, his weapon exploded in his hands and killed the Spaniard, leaving the statue mostly intact, except for its arms. This statue became symbolic after that incident, and the people decided to build a sanctuary around it in order to protect it and to facilitate prayers to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Many miracles have been attributed to this Madonna statue. The work of building the church was initiated in 1595 and completed in 1604, a relatively short time of construction for the time period. After the building was dedicated, the legend says that the statue was translated into heaven. Today, the citizens of Siena celebrate this miracle on 2 July; they combine the Palio celebration with this religious event.The Contrada Imperiale della Giraffa uses as its contrada church the Suffragio chapel in the crypt. You will see the entrance to this later in the walk. The building exterior is in the Mannerist style, which is a short period between the Italian Renaissance and Baroque periods. The architect was Flaminio Del Turco. The shape of the church is a Latin cross with a large octagonal dome at the intersection. The interior is in baroque style and is home to a number of beautiful works of art, including the main altarpiece by Del Turco. Nowadays, according to Palio rules, the Palio banner is solemnly placed in this church before the 2 July race and after the dress rehearsal, and is kept here until it is placed on the Carroccio for the historical parade. Members of the Palio’s winning contrada come to this church with the Palio banner and give thanks to the Provenzano’s Madonna. This historic church is worth every minute you spend here.
#4 Via Provenzano Salvani
Leaving the church, turn right and then take a right again on Via Provenzano Salvani (the street just to the left of the church if you are looking at the façade). .Via Provenzano Salvani is named, like the piazza, after a historical figure who was a local Ghibelline politician. He was often quoted by Dante Alighieri and was the winner of the Montaperti battle in 1260, when the city of Siena won Florence and extended its territory over Tuscany. This street is quintessentially Italian, and here you will find the Associazione Ricerche Archeologiche Senesi at number 31.
#5 Museo del Contrada Imperiale della Giraffa
Follow this street for a while, turn right on Vicolo di Provenzano (you will see the good Trattoria Tullio on the corner) and keep going until you get to Via delle Vergini (this street is not marked here, but it is the first street across), then turn right. Down this street on your right, you'll come to the little Piazzetta della Giraffa, where you will find the museo del Contrada Imperiale della Giraffa.The museo del Contrada Imperiale della Giraffa is home to the original banner of the contrada from the August Palio of 1730. On 24 September 1967, when there was an additional Palio in the city, in honor of the 59th Convention of the Italian Society for Sciences’ Advancements, the Giraffa won the race, but their banner had been stolen the night before and replaced with a sketch of the banner. During the festivities following the victory, the Palio organizers received a phone call stating that some students from Bologna had wanted to play a trick and had taken the banner but wanted to return it while joining in with the festivities. The members of the Contrada did not appreciate this and told them to return the original banner and leave; otherwise, the thieves would incur unpleasant consequences. Now both the original banner and the ill-conceived sketch are kept in this museum.Next to the door of the museum you will see a circular window into the museum. On the wall is a bronze modern sculpture that is the fountain of the contrada. On Piazzetta della Giraffa you will also see the handsome wooden double doors of the contrada church, the Suffragio Chapel, located in the crypt of Santa Maria di Provenzano church.
#6 Piazza San Francesco
Now retrace your steps to Vicolo di Provenzano and turn right. Then turn left on Via dei Baroncelli, and right again on Via dei Rossi until you reach Saint Francis Square. Both the Giraffe and the Caterpillar claim the church you see here along with the buildings and the piazza, which is right on the border between both contrade, rivals until 1996. In fact, some of their members still feel some resentment against each other.On Piazza San Francesco you will find three interesting sites. The Basilica di San Francesco was erected between 1228 and 1255, and later enlarged during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries; it was during this period that the original Romanesque edifice was turned into a larger Gothic structure. The basilica is built on an Egyptian cross plan, with a nave covered by spans and a transept. This type of structure was favored by the mendicant orders, which needed spaces capable of housing large crowds of the faithful. Until 1460, this church stood outside the city walls, but Pope Pius II Piccolomini included it inside the city, because his parents’ tombs rested there.The neo-Gothic façade, flanked by the 1763 campanile, dates to the early twentieth century. The medieval marble decoration and the fifteenth-century portal were removed on that occasion. The adjoining restored convent and cloister now accommodate university facilities for the school of jurisprudence. There is also a nice park to the left of the basilica.The current interior looks rather sober after a fire in 1655 and the subsequent restoration of 1885–92, when many baroque altars were demolished. Frescos by Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti decorate the interior. A modern chapel holds Siena’s Eucharistic miracle, two hundred consecrated communion wafers (called hosts) stolen in 1730 and later found in the Chiesa di Santa Maria in Provenzano in the Giraffe Contrada. You can see these still fresh and intact wafers displayed in a beautiful and precious ostensory.Leaving the church, take a look at the tall brick façade. Do you notice the four symbols of the evangelists (Winged Ox = St. Luke, Eagle = St. John, Winged Lion = St. Mark, Holy Man = St. Matthew)?Look at the doorway immediately to the right of the church. Go through this door (with the Italian and European flag) to enter the old cloister of the Franciscian monastery, now home to Universty of Siena offices and study space. There are study rooms you can here, with access to free wifi and free local newspapers. For now, walk immediately in front of you to the Tolomei Stairs in the next corner.According to tradition, here, beneath the Tolomei Stairs, lies the unmarked grave of eighteen members of the prominent medieval Tolomei family. The story goes, their rival family, the Salimbeni, wanting to call a truce to ongoing contentions, invited the Tolomei family to a grand picnic in this cloister. It was actually a trap, and soon the lavender-scented lunch linens were soaked red from the slaughter. Since then, this courtyard has been known as the Malamerenda (the evil meal). Look for the eighteen crests carved on the stairs, one for each member of the family. It is unlikely, however, they were buried here, being from such a prominent family, but the story makes a great scandal, doesn’t it?The Oratorio di San Bernadino was built in the 1400s on the exact spot where Saint Bernardino used to preach to the people of Siena. Today it is a museum, and the top section holds some frescoes by Domenico Beccafumi and Sodoma. On the bottom floor, there are terracotta statues of Saint Bernardino and Saint Catherine dating to the 1500s. Saint Bernardino was born in 1380 in Massa Marittima, and he dedicated his life to assisting the sick in the Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala. In 1402, he became a Franciscan monk and later started his activity as a preacher. He died in L’Aquila in 1444.
The End
Before you return to the center of Siena, you may want to rest here to enjoy the sun and sights of Piazza San Francesco. When you are ready, return under the archway up Via dei Rossi. Walking back along Via dei Rossi make note that the left side belongs to the Giraffe, the right, to the Caterpillar Contrada. On your way up, you may want to get a gelato at Gelateria Kopakabana at number 52, try a different flavors (gusti) every time. As you keep going up Via dei Rossi, you will walk under an archway and reach the crossroads with Via Banchi di Sopra, Siena’s main street or corso, which is the end of your walk.
