Siena 11

Next Museum

Siena, like most ancient cities, is layer upon historic layer. Not only are newer buildings built over older buildings, but underground rooms, and aqueducts and even roads are built into the hillsides. In the next museum complex we visited, across from the Duomo, we found these many layers. For the past thirty-some years, this former charity building has been under renovation for a museum. In medieval days it was a refuge for pilgrims on their way to Rome or Santiago or other holy sites. The rich of the city funded it (maybe to expiate some sins - like the “Userers” giving parts of their ill-gotten gains to fund beautiful chapels in various churches in the city, for prayers for their souls, which changed no deeds whatsoever). Later the building complex became a very notable hospital, not in the sense of today with drugs and surgery, but by binding up the cut and broken, and giving the needy healthful food and care, provided from the farms that the owners had. That sounds like a wonderful hospital to me. Here also, orphans and abandoned babies were brought and raised. In the 1800’s, it became a modern hospital, for awhile. 

First, a grand room in our hotel, a former Palazzo. 


Then on to the day’s adventure….

Layers of building, old and new.

Old pottery from the site. An Italian Jackalope and Unicorn.

A “gnome bird “?

Lovely scribbles 


These used to be room beams looking down on you.

The whole city was polychrome with holy images. This is what unrestored parts look like.

Reliquaries 




This had a holy something in it.


A detail of the above reliquary 


This was labeled as containing a piece of the true Cross (one of a whole forest of such across Europe)

Next will be of a marvelous chapel deep in the bowels of the complex, with a couple of lovely surprises.