It has stripes. Stripes of colorful nightlife. Stripes on flags of the contrade. Stripes of far-reaching farmland. Stripes all over the Duomo. They are black and white for the colored horses their legendary founders rode in on. They are shades of green for the pastures surrounding their city walls. They are zig zagged and scalloped to wave during the Palio. They are blue and red and an orangish yellow for the lights around the Campo at night.
Siena’s stripes are different from Rome’s ruins, from Terracina’s terraces. They signify a particular history, a connection to its beginning, a thread of life that is very much a part of Siena’s past as of its present. In Siena, stripes are not merely playful decor. They have weight in tradition. From the Duomo to the Palio, Siena’s stripes are those of a deeply rooted culture and activity. And while it is not alone in having a deeply rooted culture and activity, Siena is very much Siena in its vibrant and ever-flowing stripes.
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