Siena is like a dormant volcano in central Italy. At first glance, it’s just another mountain, a town that keeps quiet, is quaint and is the perfect place for tourists to recreate the days when horses were tied to the doorposts and the city walls were there for more than just photo opportunities. Every once in a while however, Siena erupts in a whirlwind of civic pride. The clues that the potentially enraged mountain is about to awaken are found throughout the city; in the contrada fountains, in the street art showcasing patriotism as well as great artistic talent, and even in the heart of the city, the Piazza del Campo. Some say that a little competition never hurt anyone and in this case it has made Siena what it is. When viewed from the peak of this metaphorical mountain, Siena seems uniformly complex; a maze of terra cotta roofs meant to disguise the rivalries and shelter the alliances. It is the pride and sense of identity that meanders through these mazes that make Siena Siena and nowhere else.
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