Seven Wonders | Siena and Piazza del Campo (Episode 6)

Episode 6: In this episode Piazza del Campo: a unique place of undisputed wonder, through which passes the entire history of Siena.

Piazza del Campo is the main public space of the historic center of Siena, a city in Tuscany, Italy, and the campo regarded as one of Europe's greatest medieval squares. It is renowned worldwide for its beauty and architectural integrity. The Palazzo Pubblico and its Torre del Mangia, as well as various palazzi signorili surround the shell-shaped piazza. At the northwest edge is the Fonte Gaia. The twice-a-year horse-race, Palio di Siena, is held around the edges of the piazza. The piazza is also the finish location of the annual road cycling race Strade Bianche.

The piazza was paved in 1349 in fishbone-patterned red brick with eight lines of travertine, which divide the piazza into nine sections, radiating from the mouth of the gavinone (the central water drain) in front of the Palazzo Pubblico. The number of divisions is held to be symbolic of the rule of The Nine (Noveschi) who laid out the campo and governed Siena at the height of its mediaeval splendour between 1292-1355. The campo was and remains, the focal point of public life in the city. Eleven narrow, shaded streets radiate from the piazza into the city. At the foot of the Palazzo Pubblico's wall is the late Gothic Chapel of the Virgin built as an ex voto by the Sienese, after the terrible Black Death of 1348 had ended.

The Fonte Gaia ("Joyous Fountain") was built in 1419 as an endpoint of the system of conduits bringing water to the city's centre. It replaced an earlier fountain that had been completed about 1342 when construction of the water conduits was completed. Under the direction of the Committee of Nine, many miles of tunnels were constructed to bring water in aqueducts to fountains and thence to drain to the surrounding fields. A center of attraction for the many tourists, the present fountain is in the shape of a rectangular basin that is adorned on three sides with many bas-reliefs featuring the Madonna surrounded by the Classical and the Christian Virtues, emblematic of Good Government under the patronage of the Madonna.

Episode 7: https://rumble.com/v498ryr-seven-wonders-the-appian-way-the-queen-of-roads-episode-7.html