A Tour of Tuscan Towns
We bid farewell to Florence on Saturday as we hopped on the 130 bus to take us to our chosen base of operations for the next 5 days: Colle di Val d’Elsa. When I researched Tuscany, it seemed to me that this town was the geographic center for visiting Siena, San Gimignano, and Volterra and was well served by the extraurbano bus system. But I never gave much thought to what we would experience in Colle di Val d’Elsa itself. What a pleasant surprise it was! And we might never have realized what a treat it was had we not chosen an AirBnb situated in the centro storico, perched high above the newer part of the town.
.jpg)
We spent the next three days taking buses to the three destinations we had chosen for exploring Tuscan towns: San Gimignano on the Sunday, Volterra on the Monday, and Siena on the Tuesday. Each had its own flavour, so it would be difficult to declare a winner. What was definitely a winner was the decision to travel by bus, and not car. After having rented cars in both England (this past summer) and France (spring of 2025), I was so happy to let an experienced bus driver negotiate the hairpin turns and incredibly narrow streets. Moreover, for once I got to focus on the scenery and not the road in front of us. Some of the highlights of the trip were views from the high vantage point that modern coaches provide. On the other hand, the bus option led to some of our more tense moments, like when I realized as the bus approached that Catherine had absconded with my Mastercard the previous day and forgotten to give it back, leaving me with no means to tap on and off the bus. Panic ensued...and then we spotted a ticket machine (whew!). Or as in the next day when I left the apartment first and the bus arrived as Catherine was still running across the piazza leading me to throw myself in front of the door and say pleadingly, "Mia moglie! Mia moglie!"
In terms of size, San Gimignano was the smallest, but what it lacked in square kilometers, it made up for in towers. At one time, the town boasted 72 towers; today, only 14 remain. Towers were originally built for defensive purposes, but they quickly became status symbols, which is why so many were to be found in the small town. Because we arrived by 9:30 we were able to capture some of the early morning sunlight which gave the local limestone and travertine a deeper hue. It also meant that the streets weren’t yet filled with wall-to-wall tourists.
Before we climbed the tower we saw in the Town Hall more Madonnas, some hunters, some knights, and a young couple having their wedding-night bath. Finally, we saw San Gimignano himself, holding up all those towers.
One surprise for us was finding the civic museum. We were actually looking for a free toilet (a daily chore) which showed on a map as being down a secondary street, and it turned out that the free toilet was in the museum. As we had purchased a pass that gave us access to the museum, we were delighted to find that a recent acquisition (and it had been on loan until the week we arrived) was a tall Etruscan bronze statue from the 3rd century BC, called the Ombra di San Gimignano. We were amazed by the detail in the face of the statue, and fascinated by the elongated body and legs of the figure. In terms of evidence of Etruscan life, we were just scratching the surface in San Gimignano; the Etruscan museum in Volterra was to open our eyes to a rich civilization that we rarely hear about.
Taking the bus to Volterra was fascinating, not merely because the terrain is more dramatically hilly than what we had experienced around the Elsa river valley, but because the landscape was dominated by large fields that had recently been plowed over, revealing the clay-based soil in large chunks of dirt. Whereas the agricultural areas to the east are mostly vineyards and olive orchards, the Volterra region is largely taken up by seasonal crops; thus, the fields had been plowed to prepare for the planting of winter wheat. In the midst of the fields, a pointed hill would suddenly pop up (reminding us actually of New Mexico).
After making our purchase, we made our way over to the Etruscan museum, which is located in Volterra principally because there is a large concentration of Etruscan archaeological findings in the area. Velathri, as it was known to the Etruscans was a major Etruscan city and because of their burying practices, there was left behind scores of funerary urns, of which the museum holds the largest collection in the world. Now one might think that a collection of urns would be about as exciting as a collection of old coins, but as it turns out, they feature detailed bas relief sculptures on the front of the box, and there was a wide variety of scenes displayed, including covered chariots, ships, animals and sea creatures. They not only gave insight into funerary practices but provided a view of Etruscan life and culture. There was a particularly moving one of an old married couple, she looking up at him as they reclined together on their urn, her face lined with sorrow.
And finally, Volterra gives you a view of life lived through the centuries, from the Etruscans of 7th to 1st century BC, the Romans (the remains of a Roman theatre can be seen from above), the middle ages and beyond. So, don’t go for the Duomo, but go to experience the long history of habitation on the Apennine Peninsula. And go by bus: the views are spectacular and you are guaranteed excitement, especially if your driver on the return trip is a young guy with one hand on the wheel and a love of speed, hairpin turns and steep gradient notwithstanding.
Siena, as it turned out, was the biggest surprise for me. I had pictured Siena as yet another small medieval town with the cramped spaces and rough stone buildings we had experienced in San Gimignano and Volterra. Whereas the latter two have populations of under 10,000, Siena is over 50,000. The Piazza del Campo is enormous, larger than any similar space in Florence. During the Campo horse races held there, there are between 15,000 and 20,000 spectators present. As well, probably because Siena is so much larger, there is greater variety in the overall look of the streets. Some buildings are stone, others brick, others stucco - it didn’t have the consistent look to it that you see in small towns like San Gimignano. Another major difference is the steep hills in the centro storico, which added interest, and sore legs. Overall, Siena seemed more urban, and I missed the intimate feeling you have in the smaller towns, but that was definitely made up for by the Duomo, which is spectacular.
There are a number of unique features in the Siena Duomo. First and foremost is the marvellous floor, made up of 56 marble masterpieces, created by various artists between the 14th and 16th centuries. We were fortunate, as the floor was uncovered (this happens during 18 weeks of the year) so that you could see them all. The other notable feature is the adjoining library, the Piccolomini, which is covered in frescoes completed by Pinturicchio over a five year period in the early 16th century. The frescoes, which detail events in the life of Pope Pius II, were ordered by his nephew, Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who later became Pope Pius III. Finally, despite the mobs of tourists there is a wonderful sense of space in the cathedral, both in its height, including a dome, and in the width of the central nave. Amazingly, plans were made to create a second nave extending to the south (the church runs west to east), but little more than a south wall and floor were completed before it was abandoned.
Prior to entering the cathedral we took advantage of the earlier start time of the Duomo Museum which resides in a building that adjoins the south wall of the planned second nave. The museum houses many of the statues taken from the niches on the facade of the cathedral, which have been replaced by copies. Most of the statues were carved in the late 13th century by Giovanni Pisano, who also worked with his father, Nicola, on the pulpit. I guess he was a chip off the old block. Highlights in the museum included the Maesta by Duccio and the opportunity to climb to the top of the south wall to get a good look at the Duomo, and some striking pictures of my darling wife.
.jpeg)
Our final day in Tuscany was mostly spent at the apartment, as Catherine spent the morning checking the Hebrew index on the Erasmus project book she has been working on with her father while I got ahead on my novel. In the afternoon, we found a section of the Via Francigena to hike. This section is very popular, as it follows the Elsa River through Colle di Val d’Elsa. It felt very much like being in the Don River ravine, without having to listen to the Don Valley Parkway. The river is a remarkable bright turquoise colour due to the erosion of the limestone rocks. The highlight of the trail is supposed to be the waterfall, but due to the way the river twisted at that point, you couldn’t actually see the wall of water without swimming out to the pool below, which is now strictly forbidden: vietato! For us though the trail was a cool green retreat - with birdsong for Catherine - after a series of busy days. And we had fun crossing it on giant stones multiple times. In the evening, we wandered down the street from our apartment to a pizzeria that looked out over the valley. What a lovely way to say goodbye to the treasure that is Tuscany!
Comments
Post a Comment