Enjoying Siena: from the origins to the taste

When someone talks about Siena, they usually talk about Piazza del Campo, the shell-shaped town square. But this is just one of the many attractions that this city can offer. If we dedicate the right time and attention we can discover incredible details and hidden gems around the city. Because Siena is a muddle of little streets, a miscellaneous of different point of views and from each of them you can return back to the majestic Piazza del Campo. From today, we want to offer you different itineraries to discover the best places that worth a visit. And we want to start from the oldest part: Castelvecchio. A tour of places and unexpected pleasures, because Siena is Tuscany and Tuscany is identity through all the five senses, where wine and food are pure art.

The first tour starts from Porta Tufi, that overlooks a lovely area from the 1327. Going towards the centre, on your right you will find the Orti dei Tolomei, a beautiful place with a breath-taking view. From here, during sunny days you can see the Monte Amiata with an incredible view of the rural landscape around. From the other side, la Basilica dei Servi and a magnificent Siena’s skyline. Here the silence is the biggest distraction, extremely evocative as the origin of this place: a vegetable garden, looked after by the Tolomei monastery’s priests. Nowadays this area is a public park but you can still see olive and fruit trees. This green space oversees the ex Sant’ Agostino monastery that in ‘600 became the Tolomei’s college, guided by the Jesuits, as a preparatory institution for the University’s department of Pharmacy. The teaching was a mix of natural philosophy, botany, mathematics, chemistry and physics. In this area you should visit the Orto Botanico, a garden born in 1856, full of fragrant trees and flowers that creates a great atmosphere for a not very known view of eternal beauty. But be conscious of Frà Giomo, the meticulous keeper of the garden that hates any bad manners. He is a ghost that overlooks the garden and starts throwing stones to any rude visitor.

Just next to the Orto Botanico, you will find the Accademia dei Fisiocritici, one of the most ancient and important natural museum of Europe, where you can find the last living embalmer in Italy. Plants, animals and studies on the human being: there is a whole world to discover as the enormous whale skeleton that welcomes the visitors.

The journey continues toward the garden of Sant’Agostino., the only garden in the world made by pebbles and the great church of Sant’Agostino that worth a visit.

And here you will start to be a little hungry, and as lovers of traditional and authentic taste we suggest you to stop at the Grotta di Sant’Agostino , a restaurant just in front of the garden. It is a family restaurant with a great attention to the details and to raw materials. A great value for money and their lovely recipes made this place an amazing destination for everyone. We suggest you the Pici della Grotta. Here you are few pictures : basil, walnut and bacon are the main ingredients of a dish that you will remember. Simple but not simplistic. Original and satisfying, this hand-made pasta is a great start to taste the local delicacies.

A compulsory visit in Siena is the cradle of her origins. Walking down Via san Pietro from Porta all’arco and on the right you can can go to Castelvecchio. According to the legend, in this place the twins Senio and Ascanio, Remo’s sons, took refuge. Castelvecchio rises in the highest hill where Siena was born. Before walking down to the Duomo or Piazza del Campo, you should visit the National Gallery (Pinacoteca nazionale) (where you can find San Giorgio’s sword that killed the dragon) and go straight to eat a deserved gelato at la Vecchia Latteria.

This artisan ice-cream takes his name from an old boutique, Annina’s, that during the 60s used to have the best cream in town. Here, two young guys, started a great artisan ice-cream ‘gelateria’ keeping the same high standard. Here you should taste their flavours, all from natural and excellent raw materials, from the fruits ones to the most unusual ones. We suggest you ‘Vecchia Latteria’: a great temptation of pistachio, almonds and super hazel-nuts. Just sit down and enjoy this sweet treat in peace and quiet.