THIS TIME, WE EXPLORE SIENA AND ASSISI,

PLUS THE COUNTRYSIDE IN BETWEEN.

IF YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH ITALY,

GOOD CHANCE IT WILL BE RIGHT HERE.

IN MANY WAYS THE HEART OF THIS COUNTRY

IS THE REGION OF TUSCANY.

IT'S HERE WHERE THE RUSTIC SOUL

AND RURAL MYSTIQUE OF THIS COUNTRY COMBINE

TO SEDUCE TRAVELERS INTO TOSSING THEIR ITINERARIES

AND SETTLING IN.

IN SIENA, WE'LL CLIMB THE HIGHEST TOWER,

SAVOR LOCAL CUISINE,

AND GET TO KNOW A FAMILY.

AND THEN, FOR A TASTE OF TUSCANY,

WE'LL EXPLORE TINY HILL TOWNS,

SLEEP RUSTIC, BUT CLASSY, IN A COUNTRY FARM,

AND SAMPLE SOME GREAT WINE.

IN ASSISI, WE'LL JOIN PILGRIMS AT THE BASILICA OF ST. FRANCIS.

ITALY PACKS 55 MILLION PEOPLE

INTO AN AREA ABOUT THE SIZE OF ARIZONA.

WE'LL START IN SIENA,

VISIT HIGHLIGHTS OF TUSCANY,

BEFORE FINISHING IN ASSISI.

SIENA SEEMS TO BE EVERY ITALY CONNOISSEUR'S FAVORITE TOWN.

IN THE 1300s, IT WAS A MAJOR MILITARY POWER,

IN A CLASS WITH FLORENCE, VENICE AND GENOA.

WITH A POPULATION OF 60,000 PEOPLE,

IT WAS ONE OF EUROPE'S LARGEST CITIES.

BUT WEAKENED BY A DEVASTATING PLAGUE

AND CONQUERED BY ITS BITTER RIVAL FLORENCE,

SIENA HAS BEEN A BACKWATER FOR FIVE CENTURIES.

SIENA'S LOSS BECAME OUR SIGHT-SEEING GAIN,

AS ITS POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC IRRELEVANCE

PRESERVED ITS PURELY GOTHIC IDENTITY.

SIENA'S GREAT CENTRAL PIAZZA, IL CAMPO,

IS LIKE A PEOPLE-FRIENDLY STAGE SET.

ITS GENTLY TILTED FLOOR FANS OUT FROM THE TOWER.

SPRAWLING BEFORE THE CITY HALL BACKDROP,

IT OFFERS THE PERFECT INVITATION TO LOITER.

THE SIENESE LOUNGE COMFORTABLY ON THIS SQUARE

AS IF IT'S THEIR COMMUNITY LIVING ROOM.

TWO TIMES EACH SUMMER, SIENA HOLDS THE PALIO,

A WILD BAREBACK HORSE RACE AROUND THIS SQUARE.

NEIGHBORHOODS COMPETE, HURLING THEMSELVES WITH MEDIEVAL ABANDON

INTO A FESTIVAL WHICH CLIMAXES IN THIS 90-SECOND ROMP.

IT'S STANDING ROOM ONLY AS 40,000 PEOPLE,

MOSTLY LOCALS, PACK THIS SQUARE.

BUT TODAY, IT'S QUIET.

AND AT THE FOUNTAIN OF JOY,

PIGEONS POLITELY WAIT THEIR TURN TO SLURP A DRINK.

WHILE MOST ITALIAN CITIES HAVE A CHURCH ON THEIR MAIN SQUARE,

SIENA GATHERS AROUND ITS CITY HALL.

IT WAS AN AUTONOMOUS REPUBLIC,

AND THIS WAS ITS DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE,

THE TALLEST SECULAR MEDIEVAL TOWER IN ITALY.

300 STEPS TAKE YOU 100 YARDS HIGH.

THE REWARD:

ONE OF ITALY'S FINEST VIEWS.

THE DOMINANT COLOR:

SIENNA.

INSIDE THE CITY HALL, IN THE ROOM OF PEACE,

THE TOWN COUNCIL MET UNDER INSTRUCTIVE FRESCOES

SHOWING THE EFFECTS OF GOOD AND BAD GOVERNMENT.

BAD GOVERNMENT, A DICTATORSHIP COUNSELED BY GREED AND TYRANNY,

BRINGS A DREARY CITY WITHOUT SPIRIT

AND VIOLENCE IN THE STREETS.

BUT A GOOD GOVERNMENT, WITH WISE AND VIRTUOUS COUNCIL,

RESULTS IN A UTOPIAN REPUBLIC WHERE THE SHOPPING'S BRISK,

PROFESSORS TEACH ATTENTIVE STUDENTS,

CONSTRUCTION IS BOOMING

AND WOMEN DANCE FREELY IN THE STREETS.

THE MESSAGE?

A COMMUNITY RULED BY A JUST GOVERNMENT ENJOYS PEACE,

PROSPERITY, AND A GREAT PLACE IN WHICH TO RAISE YOUR KIDS.

IN THE NEARBY HOSPITAL OF SANTA MARIA della SCALA,

A SERIES OF IDEALIZED FRESCOES ILLUSTRATES HOW FAR

SECULAR SOCIETY HAD COME IN SIENA BY THE 1440s.

THE CITY RAN THIS HOSPITAL

IN A WAY THAT SEEMED TO TAKE OVER

THE CHURCH'S TRADITIONAL SOCIAL ROLE.

IT TOOK IN ORPHANS AND RAISED THEM,

FROM WET NURSE

THROUGH HOMEWORK

TO A CIVIL WEDDING.

AND THIS WEDDING IS NOT ARRANGED,

AS THIS MAN WOULD HAVE LIKED.

IT'S BASED ON LOVE.

SIENESE SOCIETY PROVIDED WELFARE --

BREAD TO NEEDY PEOPLE --

THROUGH THIS HOSPITAL RATHER THAN THE CHURCH.

NOTE THE LOAVES ARE CLEVERLY STAMPED TO PREVENT RESALE.

THE HOSPITAL WAS RUN BY DOCTORS AND SECULAR NURSES.

IN A SLAP TO CHURCH AUTHORITIES,

THE WELL-FED MONK LOOKS BORED

AS HE HARDLY HEARS A DYING PATIENT'S CONFESSION.

WE'RE STAYING AT ALBERGO BERNINI IN THE OLD TOWN CENTER,

WITH THE MAGIC OF SIENA RIGHT OUT OUR WINDOW.

THE ROOMS ARE HOMEY AND COMFORTABLE,

BREAKFAST ON THE TERRACE COMES WITH A SPECTACULAR VIEW,

AND A FRIENDLY FAMILY MEMBER AT THE DESK

IS ALWAYS READY TO HELP YOU WITH TRAVEL QUESTIONS.

AND IN A LITTLE FAMILY-RUN PLACE LIKE THIS,

SERENDIPITY IS ALMOST A CERTAINTY,

AND YOU FEEL LIKE PART OF A SIENESE FAMILY.

Rick: BRAVO!

SIENA'S DUOMO, OR CATHEDRAL,

IS AS OVER THE TOP AS GOTHIC GETS.

THE STRIPED PAJAMA FACADE

IS PILED WITH STATUES AND ORNAMENTATION.

ITS INTERIOR IS DECORATED FROM TOP TO BOTTOM.

THE HEADS OF 172 POPES PEER DOWN ON ALL THOSE WHO ENTER.

THE CHURCH IS FILLED WITH GREAT ART.

NICOLA PISANO'S WONDERFUL PULPIT

WAS CARVED OUT OF MARBLE IN 1268.

IT'S CROWDED WITH DELICATE GOTHIC STORYTELLING,

SCENES FROM THE LIFE OF CHRIST AND THE LAST JUDGMENT.

THIS TOMB, DEDICATED TO A SIENESE POPE,

INCLUDES A MINOR MICHELANGELO.

BUT THE MOST EXCITING STATUARY HIDES HERE, IN A SIDE CHAPEL,

WHERE YOU'LL UNDERSTAND WHY

LORENZO BERNINI IS CONSIDERED THE GREATEST BAROQUE SCULPTOR.

MARY MAGDALENE IS IN SPIRITUAL ECSTASY.

AND ST. JEROME CARESSES THE CRUCIFIX

LIKE A VIOLINIST LOST IN BEAUTIFUL MUSIC.

NEXT DOOR, THE CATHEDRAL MUSEUM

HOLDS MANY OF THE CHURCH'S MOST PRECIOUS ORIGINALS.

DUCCIO'S ENTHRONED VIRGIN,

PAINTED FOR THE CATHEDRAL'S HIGH ALTAR,

IS THE MOST CAPTIVATING PIECE OF ART IN ALL SIENA.

IT'S FROM AROUND 1300, LONG BEFORE THE RENAISSANCE,

WHEN THE ARTIST'S MISSION WAS TO TELL A BIBLE STORY,

EMPHASIZING EASY-TO-READ SYMBOLISM

AND SERENE BEAUTY OVER REALISM.

THE FLIP SIDE OF THIS TWO-SIDED ALTARPIECE HAS 26 PANELS,

THE ARTISTIC EQUIVALENT OF PAGES.

IT SHOWS SCENES FROM THE PASSION OF CHRIST,

THE LAST DAYS THAT LED UP TO HIS CRUCIFIXION.

IN THIS PANEL, JESUS WASHES THE FEET OF THE APOSTLES.

AND HERE, JUDAS KISSES JESUS,

IDENTIFYING HIM TO HIS ROMAN CAPTORS.

AND THE CATHEDRAL MUSEUM COMES WITH A SURPRISE:

A COMMANDING VIEW.

FROM THIS HILLTOP, SIENA UNFOLDS IN ALL DIRECTIONS.

CONSIDER THIS:

WHEN FLORENCE BEGAN BUILDING ITS GRAND CATHEDRAL,

THE RIVAL REPUBLIC OF SIENA RESPONDED WITH A PLAN

TO BUILD THE BIGGEST CHURCH IN ALL CHRISTENDOM.

ITS EXISTING CATHEDRAL WOULD BE USED ONLY AS A TRANSEPT,

OR WING, OFF THE NEW NAVE, OR MAIN BUILDING.

I'M SITTING ATOP WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN

THE FRONT OF THAT CHURCH.

THESE TOWERING MARBLE ARCHES

HINT AT THE IMMENSITY OF THE PROJECT.

BUT THESE ARCHES WERE AS FAR AS SIENA GOT

BEFORE CONSTRUCTION PROBLEMS AND A PLAGUE SCUTTLED THE PROJECT.

WERE IT COMPLETED, THIS SQUARE WOULD HAVE BEEN THE NAVE.

HIDING BEHIND ALL THESE GREAT SIGHTS

ARE INTRIGUING BACK STREETS.

HERE YOU'LL GET AWAY FROM THE CROWDS

AND FIND YOURSELF ALL ALONE

WITH THE MEDIEVAL MAGIC OF SIENA:

STEEP LANES AND MYSTERIOUS BYWAYS

THAT HAVE CHANGED LITTLE OVER THE CENTURIES.

AND ALL OVER TOWN,

SHOPS TEMPT YOU WITH SIENESE SPECIALTIES:

GOURMET PASTA,

VINTAGE CHIANTI,

WILD BOAR PROSCIUTTO,

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL,

AND PANFORTE.

SIENA'S CLAIM TO CALORIC FAME,