Siena

Departure from Rome–Fiumicino Airport “Leonardo da Vinci”, where a private chauffeur at your full disposal will take you on a tour of two magnificent Tuscan art cities: Siena and Pisa. Along the A1 motorway you may stop for a coffee break at a service station before continuing to Siena. The journey takes approximately 2 hours 40 minutes. Siena spreads over three hills in central Tuscany between the Arbia, Elsa and Merse river basins. Approaching the city, which appears as a large patch of terracotta colour, you’ll sight the medieval walls that surround it. The road from Rome to Siena leads to Porta Romana; other gates include Porta Camollia toward Florence and Porta San Marco toward Grosseto. Siena reached the height of its importance in 1260 with the victory at Montaperti over the Florentine army—an episode recalled by Dante Alighieri in the Tenth Canto of the Inferno. It is said that the Palio di Siena, the city’s principal festival held on 16 August (Palio dell’Assunta) and 2 July (in honour of the Madonna of Provenzano), originated as a thanksgiving to the Virgin for that victory. After a period of decline and internal strife, the Council of Nine was established in 1287 and governed until 1355; many of the city’s most important monuments date from this era, which you will be able to admire.