Siena

Siena is a city in the Italian region of Tuscany. Its name is spelt Siena in Italian. The city has a population of about 54,000.

The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site.^[1] It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008.^[2] Siena is famous for its cuisine, art, museums, medieval cityscape and the Palio, a horse race held twice yearly.

Siena began as Etruscan, before it was conquered by Ancient Rome. Sienna prospered under the Lombards, who became the first Kings of Italy. Lombard nobles governed it until the 8th century, when they were conquered by Charlemagne and his Franks. Feudal rule ended with the death of the Countess Matilda in 1115, and Sienna became an independent city with its own government. There were struggles between Siena and Florence during the Middle Ages and the renaissance. The city did well in wool and money lending or usury, the charging of interest on loans.

1. ↑ "UNESCO-Historic Centre of Siena".
2. ↑ "Euromonitor Internationals Top City Destinations Ranking > Euromonitor archive". Euromonitor.com. 2008-12-12. Archived from the original on 2010-01-11. Retrieved 2010-04-09.