Submitted by Zachary Allen on the 2018 winter session program in Italy sponsored by the Department of Linguistics and Cognitive Science and the Department of English…
On our day trip to Pisa, we visited the Piazza dei Miracoli, tightly packed with beautiful buildings which have an important role in Italian history, art, architecture and religion. The most famous by far is the leaning tower of Pisa, an eight story high tower which leans because of the unstable ground it was built on. Our tour guide explained that the five architectural wonders represent a person’s time on earth, the Baptistry of St. John, the Cathedral, the Camposanto, the hospital and the leaning tower. These five buildings represent birth, life, death, suffering and salvation respectively. Italy is a country with a long history of Catholicism, and this can be seen in nearly every aspect of life, including art and architecture. I was surprised by how much could be learned about a region by simply studying the buildings.
For most of the week, we stayed in the old quarter of Siena. It is mostly restricted to pedestrians and therefore allows easy access to most of the town. I was surprised to find that cars and people share the road in equal measure, and drivers never honk or yell at pedestrians. Siena is split into 17 different districts, each of which have their own unique fountain and animal. The children are baptized twice, once in a church and again in the district fountain. Each district also enters a horse in an annual race around the Piazza del Campo. The winner loses money while the rest earn money, but in this race winning is more important than anything else. Also located in Siena is the Duomo of Siena, which holds works by Donatello and Michelangelo.
