I like to consider myself as a person who likes to try new things. If I wasn't, I don't think I would have ever gotten on a plane with two suitcases holding nothing but the bare essentials and a backpack on a journey to live in a whole other country on the other side of the world. Through my time in Italy, though, I have discovered habits that I never really thought about back home in the United States. For example, I have discovered that I am a stickler for schedules and that I, like many others, enjoy having a general routine. In an attempt to try and break this developed cycle of normalcy, I decided to go and explore. More specifically, I decided to go and explore each of the 17 contrade of Siena.
While Siena as a whole is a city about the size of Jackson, the walled portion of Siena, the part which I spend most of my days, is the only part that houses the contrade of Siena. This is because the inner, walled portion of Siena is where the original city that was founded in the late 15th century. This part of Siena is significantly smaller; it's maybe around the size of the city limits of Martin. The only real challenge to this task was the obvious fact that I'd have to find my way around a city I've only really known two months with no physical map and only my sense of direction and small territory plaques to guide me. It shouldn't be a terribly big deal, right?
Siena is divided into thirds: the Terzo di Citta, or third city, is where I reside; this section is comprised of the contrade of Aquila, Selva, Chiocciola, Pantera, Tartuca and Onda. It's the part that I've no doubt spent most of my time in. Next there's the Terzo di San Marco, which is where I also find myself spending time since it houses two popular supermarkets, Conad and Pam, as well as lots of yummy restaraunts like Al Buongusto and Ravioli Wang. It houses the southeastern contrade of Torre, Valdimontone, Leocorno, Civetta and Nicchio. Finally, there is the Terzo di Camollia, which is where I spend the least amount of my time simply due to the fact that farthest from where I stay and is, in my opinion, the most spread out of the three sections. This third houses some of the larger condrade: Istrice, Lupa, Oca, Drago, Giraffa and Bruco.
I started with the easiest place: my honorary contrada, Selva, with the gorgeous Duomo di Siena with it's giant, black-and-white-stripped tower. From the Duomo, I made my way towards my school, taking my normal route through the condrade of Aquila, Pantera, and Chiocciola before ending up at the fountain of the Tartuca district, just down the street from the school. Here, there's an intersection that meets with the contrada dell'Onda, which markes the division between the Terzo di Citta and the Terzo di San Martino.
Making my way east from that fountain, I eventually found myself at the Piazza del Campo in the center of the city. No doubt a gorgeous centerpiece to the city, the Piazza del Campo is home to the Torre del Mangia, which is located within the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena's town hall. To the left of the tower lies the contrada del Torre, which began my journey into the second third of the city, the Terzo di San Martino. I continued my journey southeast into the hills of Valdimontone and wound my way east into the contrada del Nicchio. From the contrada del Nicchio, I made my way back north until I found the Contrada del Leocorno's church. I wound my way back further north and eventually found myself back, yet again, at the Piazza del Campo.
I continued on my northern-bound journey, passing through the small contrada of Civetta, and made my way to the main street in Siena, Via Banchi di Sopra. Banchi di Sopra is just one of the many names for this street (it changes names at different parts since the path goes through the entire western part of Siena). Following Banchi di Sopra, I made my way into the contrade dell'Oca and Drago before ending up at the northernmost contrada: the contrada dell'Istrice. From Istrice, I headed back southwest, venturing into the territory of Lupa and eventually making my way into Bruco and, finally, Giraffa. From Giraffa, all one has to do is go a little bit southwest and they'll make their way back to the Piazza del Campo.
The whole journey around Siena took me the entirety of a day. It was well worth it however, to get to walk around and see the different plaques that each contrada uses to mark their territories and seeing the different residences and businesses sporting their respective decorations and flags. I definitely think anyone who comes to Siena and has the opportunity should consider winding their ways through the streets of Siena and finding their way through each of the 17 contrade.