All the 17 Contrade of Siena have their own Church and Museum. They are really little gems which worth a visit.
The Contrada della Torre opens theit Church and Museum every third Sunday of each month from 10 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.
For booking and costs send an e-mail info@contradadellatorre.it or call 0577 222555 or 0577 271226.
When I visited this Contrada I was really fascinated by what I saw and the passion with which our guide took us to the discovery of the treasures of his Contrada.
The Contrada della Torre is the only district that has a Church born with that destination and not as
an existing Church then converted into a chapel as it has happened to others districts and this also because in this area there were no other churches to borrow. There are a few notices only of an old church called San Giusto which was demolished to make a square that now corresponds to a parking lot.
an existing Church then converted into a chapel as it has happened to others districts and this also because in this area there were no other churches to borrow. There are a few notices only of an old church called San Giusto which was demolished to make a square that now corresponds to a parking lot.
The construction of the Church of the Contrada della Torre began in 1531 as a thanksgiving to the Immaculate Virgin under the protection of which was fought in 1526 and won the battle of Porta Camollia against Florentine and papal troops. At the forefront were deployed many people belonging to the Contrada della Torre.
To commemorate this victory, reported on the day dedicated to Saints James and Christopher, namely July 25, the Republic of Siena by instigation of the people of the Contrada della Torre decided to build a church dedicated to the two Saints in Salicotto. Also the people contributed to the achievement of project.
The work was completed in 1536, as confirmed by a plaque visible inside the church at the bottom of the left wall, on which we read IM (maculate) MAR (iae) OB VIC (toriam) 1526. 1536 F (undamenta) P (osuere): 'To Mary Immaculate, because of the victory of 1526. Made in 1536. '
The structure of the church has undergone major expansion and renovation work until 1702.
In the church there are many paintings. The guide drew our attention to the following masterpieces:
- altar on the right side: painting by Giovanni di Lorenzo, the Blessed Virgin Immaculate between St. James and Christopher (1545). The author, belonging to the Contrada della Torre, had run the same subject on the banner carried by soldiers in the battle of Siena 1526. Same model, same author had already been executed for the Church of San Martino where the canvas is still visible as one enters on the left.
- altar on the left side: painting by Aurelio Martelli, Madonna and Child, St. Anne and St. John (1700). The presence of St. Anne is in honor of the women of Contrada della Torre who always had a very active participation in the district. Having already chosen the Madonna, it was chosen the most important woman and saint immediately after her as patron of the women, who? the mother of the Madonna!
- main altar: a canvas depicting the Martyrdom of St. James performed in 1605 by Rutilio Manetti. The color palette of Manetti in this painting is very bright in contrast to how we're used to seeing them in his other paintings and as it witness the canvas that is on the right wall of the chancel depicting the Crucifixion and executed by the same Manetti in 1625. The style here is caravaggiesco and in fact in those years Rutilio had gone to Rome and had known Caravaggio conceded inevitably influence.
In the Museum of the Contrada della Torre you can admire in the various rooms the costumes worn throughout the centuries from appearing in the historic parade before each Palio and whose inspiration is easily recognizable (Spanish fashion, Renaissance, nineteenth-century taste), vestments, the ancient bell of the church built in the tradition by fusing pieces of artillery captured the Florentines in the victorious Battle of Porta Camollia of 1526, a painting of Sodoma, The way to Calvary, 1546, a stretch of the city walls start thirteenth and finally the Sala delle Vittorie (the room of the wins) where you can admire the four masgalani won by Contrada della Torre in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (the word 'Masgalano' comes from Spanish 'Más galán' which means 'more elegant', is a prize which is awarded each year to the district that during both historic parade in July and August is characterized by elegance, dignity of bearing and coordination) and Palios won (The Palio is the banner that the district winner will receive as prize. last century there was fixed the iconography of the Palio. It means that it cannot miss the figure of the Madonna (of Provenzano in that of July, Assunta in that of August), the symbols of the 17 districts, the symbols of the three thirds that has divided the city of Siena (Camollia, Città, and San Martino), the Balzana ( the shield half white and half black, symbol of Siena) and the Leone rampante (lion rampant, which represents the people of Siena). The banner for the Palio of July is entrusted to an Italian author, that of August to a foreign author. In 19 century it was not in this way. In fact the figure of Madonna was done with the stencil and it jumps to the eyes because it is always the same.)
Tips:
- the oldest Palio among those which we find in this room is the Palio straordinario won on May 14, 1767 in honor of Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo, who in 1795 had taken possession of Tuscany. The Palio extraordinary (ordinary ones are those that are run every year on 2 July and 16 August) is decided by the town council to honor the presence of important people in Siena or to celebrate important events in the city and not only in the city. On this occasion, all 10 districts are drawn by lot (for the Palios ordinary 7 districts run by law and are those that have not run the previous year, the other 3 are drawn on particular dates: the last Sunday in May for the Palio of July, the Sunday after the Palio of July to that of August. The last Palio straordinario was run on Sept. 9, 2000 to celebrate the new millennium).
- there are two pairs of Palios combined side by side: the two won in July and August of 1787 and the two won in July and August of 1896. When a district wins both Palios people say that they have done ‘cappotto’ (coat). Note the date of the Palio in August of 1896, namely: August 25. In fact the Palio of August 16 was moved to 25 of the same year for the transition to Siena VIII Corps.
- on May 14, 1809 the Contrada della Torre wins the extraordinary career in honor of Elisa Bonaparte, sister of Emperor Bonaparte, the governor of Tuscany. In the Palio we find for the first and only time the Madonna delle Grazie venerated in the Cathedral of Siena. In the history of the Palio we have had only two Palio straordinario on May 14: in 1767 and 1809. Both times it has won by the Contrada della Torre.
- on September 13, 1910, the Contrada della Torre won the Palio straordinario in honor of the French journalists gathered at a conference in Siena.
- in 1961 the Contrada della Torre wins the Palio of August and after that a long fast of victories starts...
- the fast culminates on August 16, 2005 when the jockey Luigi Bruschelli, said Trecciolino, wins for the Contrada della Torre with the horse Berio. This year the jockey and the horse make ‘cappotto’, because in July the same jockey, Trecciolino, with the same horse, Berio, had brought victory in the Contrada del Bruco (caterpillar).
I was in the main square when the Contrada della Torre won the Palio after 44 years. I remember that it took me an hour to reach the Cathedral to attend the Te Deum of thanksgiving of the district people, such was the flood of people going in the same direction. It was touching to hear the stories of the people around me: there were people old like me who had never seen their Contrada winning a Palio, other that where youth on 1961 and now they had some gray hair, some wrinkles, adults sons and daughters and maybe even grandchildrens. It was a big party ... except for the Contrada dell’Oca (goose) and Contrada dell’Onda (wave): the rival districts of the Contrada della Torre.
Each Contrada has also its own fountain where newborns are baptized each year during the festivities of their Saint patron.
The fountain of the Contrada della Torre was built in 1984 by the sculptor and ‘torraiolo’ (belonging to the Contrada delle Torre) Mauro Berrettini, who we know very well because he is the brother in law of one of the owners of Borgo Grondaie. Mauro Berrettini have also contributed to the restructuring of our hotel. Find more about him and his works on ArsMarmi
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