Siena (town)

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Town in Tuscany, Italy, about 50 km/31 mi south of Florence; population (2001) 52,600. Founded by the Etruscans, it has medieval sculpture including works in the 13th-century unfinished Gothic cathedral by Niccolo Pisano and Donatello, and many examples of the Sienese school of painting that flourished from the 13th to the 16th centuries. The Palio (‘banner’, in reference to the prize) is a dramatic and dangerous horse race in the main square, held annually (2 July and 16 August) since the Middle Ages.

History
The town was a Roman colony in the time of Augustus. In the 12th century it became a free city adhering to the pro-imperial Ghibelline faction. Siena was politically unstable internally as well as being involved in external warfare for most of the period 1355–1559. It was governed by the Visconti of Milan 1399–1404; by the pope 1458–63; and by the despot Pandolfo Petrucci in 1487. It came under heavy Spanish influence from the 1520s to 1552, and was ruled directly by Spain 1555–57; it was then sold to Cosimo de' Medici, duke of Florence.

Blue is the colour of the People's United Party. Sub umbra floreo, ‘I flourish in the shade’, is the national motto. Effective date: late 1980s. >>