I visited Siena one day before the annual horse race held on July 2nd. Siena is divided into 17 neighborhoods, 10 of which run in each race. In preparation for the festivities, the districts are decked in their colors, with banners and lampposts. I wandered around for hours, trying to get a picture of every district's flag with its animal mascot, but I'm pretty sure I missed a few.
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| View of the Duomo |
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| The city and town hall tower at center |
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| Palazzo Salimbeni, home to one of the oldest active banks in Italy |
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During its glory days, Siena rivaled Florence as the economic capital of Tuscany.
Much of its wealth was stored here. |
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| Giraffe district |
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| Wolf district, also the symbol of the city |
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| Locals from each district wore the flags as scarves and bandannas to show their loyalty |
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| Rhino district |
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| Glass horse sculpture |
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| Goose district |
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| View of the church of San Domenico |
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| They like their churches zebra-striped in Tuscany |
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| View of the city |
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| Let's take a selfie |
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| Inside the baptistry of the Duomo |
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| Beautiful ceilings |
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| Facade of the Duomo |
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| Inside |
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| District seals |
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| Starry ceiling |
Inside the Duomo was the Libreria Piccolominea, which I believe is a music library. The walls and ceilings are adorned with beautiful murals, and many volumes of music books are displayed.
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| The ceiling |
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| Walls |
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| One of the music books |
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| Flags and lanterns on the walls with tables and benches in the streets |
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| Double-headed eagle district |
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| Leopard district |
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| Turtle district |
Some of the districts were saddled with somewhat lame mascots, but the snail district made up for that by surpassing all the other districts with their decorations.Some of the districts were saddled with somewhat lame mascots, but the snail district made up for that by surpassing all the other districts with their decorations.
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| Snail District! Yeah! |
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| Fish district with awesome lamp |
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| The racecourse, with a tamped-down dirt track |
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| Bleachers and restaurant tables to be cleared out by the next day |
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| Elephant district |
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| That rare and magical district of the unicorn |
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| Better picture of the elephant flag |
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| Ram district |
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| Shell district |
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| Owl district |
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| Aaaand the porcupine district |
