Siena & Florence Part I

My first travel experience in Italy was great. I went to Siena and then Florence—two amazing cities.

We—Catherine, Liz, Courtney, Morgan, and Bess—arrived in Siena at around 2:00 PM. Siena is somewhat similar to Assisi, because it is medieval in style. However, it is bigger. At Siena, we went to the Duomo, the Baptistry of the Duomo, St. Catherine’s home, the Basilica of San Francesco, and the Basilica of San Domenico.

The Duomo (i.e., the Cathedral): This church is, without doubt, one of the most beautiful churches I have ever been in. I cannot even begin to explain how incredible it was. The art, architecture, columns, candles, windows, domes—everything! I fell in love with this church; its majestic style was inspiring. It truly made known that this space was sacred, holy, and it was a place for God. I could write much more about it, but words do not suffice. This Church pointed toward the infinite and unknown, and yet the totally accessible through Christ. 

The Baptistry: This was where Baptisms use to take place. It was wonderfully decorated. Indeed, the place of any Baptism should be beautiful: it is the Christening, the entering into of God’s Church. The art here was priceless:

St. Catherine’s Home: This was just neat to be in. Two of the rooms were made into chapels: both were very beautiful. I found myself asking: “What happened?” Why is it that architecture, art, and especially churches are struggling so hard to be beautiful? If the answer is money, how pitiful… If the answer has to do with philosophy, then how stupid… My point is that there is something inspiring about beauty, especially beauty that decorates that which is Beautiful. And the human person not only longs for beauty, but deserves it!

Basilica of San Francesco and San Domenico: St. Catherine of Siena took her vows at San Domenico. Hence, it was an honor to be in a church with a clearly fruitful history of the story of a great saint. What was particularly interesting about this was its deep simplicity. It was beautiful in its awesome simplicity.

Similarly to San Domenico, San Francesco was also very simple. The structure of both of these churches, however, was quite captivating. It was as if their architecture was a message of searching for the divine mystery, yet the churches’ simplicity was a message of living poorly. Excellent! Also, the story of the Basilica of San Francesco is that it is the home to a great Eucharistic miracle. On August 14^th, 1730, thieves stole the silver pyx (that which holds the hosts). Three days later, the Eucharistic bread was founded—the thieves hid them in an alms box. The discovery of the Host was a source for “adoration and reparation in which the whole city of Siena took part”. The Franciscan friars of San Francesco did not consume the Eucharist for hygienic reasons and because of the “constant tributes of faith and love by people of the city and the rural parishes of Siena”. However, as time passed, the Hosts underwent no change. “On several occasions during the last two centuries and a half, experts have examined the sacred Hosts scientifically. Thereby they…multiplied occasions which could have caused the Hosts to deteriorate (by transferring them to other receptacles, by shaking, touching, and counting them, and by exposing them to dust and humidity). But science has always concluded that the Holy Hosts are still fresh, intact, physically incorrupt, and chemically pure; they do not show any sign of corruption.” The Hosts are, to this day, in a Tabernacle in the chapel of the Basilica. Almost 300 years later and the Eucharistic Bread is miraculously in excellent, intact position. I think that this is a miracle. Hopefully miracles as such reveal the importance of the Liturgy and the importance of the reception of the Eucharist.*

That first night in Siena, we went out to dinner. It was very tasty. One thing I learned this weekend, for sure, is that Tuscan food is damn good. Oh, before dinner, I might add that we had just a bit of trouble finding our hostel. It took us: 1, 2, no 3 times to finally get it right! We went into what we thought was the wrong hostel, then we went really into the wrong hostel. Then, we went to the first one, which happened to be the right one at last. We thought that there was no way it was the correct place because it looked so freaking cool. To be precise, I don’t think we stayed in a hostel. It was closer to the nicest hotel that I’ve ever stayed in. Then again, that could mean that I need to stay in better hotels. But really, the hostel was awesome. I slept like a rock, took a hot shower (which is somewhat rare at the Rome Center), had a free breakfast, and stayed in a very nice room. Excellent first night. Next morning, we were on the bus around 10 o’clock heading to Florence!

*Quotes taken from a pamphlet from the Basilica.