il duomo di siena

20150524_tuscany_110
the duomo in siena … words don’t really describe it.

20150524_tuscany_022 20150524_tuscany_027 20150524_tuscany_015
20150524_tuscany_029 20150524_tuscany_038 20150524_tuscany_045
20150524_tuscany_040 20150524_tuscany_039 20150524_tuscany_099
20150524_tuscany_073 20150524_tuscany_091 20150524_tuscany_078
20150524_tuscany_083 20150524_tuscany_081 20150524_tuscany_097

the cathedral was built between 1215 and 1263 using black and white marble, black and white being the colors of siena. the amazing walls and ceilings and the illustrated music manuscripts are from the adjoining piccolomini library; the frescoes tell the story of cardinal eneo silvio piccolomini of siena, who became pope pius ii (and was the uncle of pope pius iii), and the books are from his collection. click on any photo to enlarge it.

the anatomical waxes

in tuscany, at the natural history museum, there is a collection of anatomical waxes. i quote directly from the placard at the museum:

unique in the world for the quantity and beauty of its pieces, this collection was the inspiration of the grand duke peter leopold of lorraine and felice fontana, the first director of the museum, who conceived it as a means of teaching anatomy without directly observing a corpse. it consists of more than 1400 pieces, done between 1771 and the second half of the 1800’s, contained in 550 showcases presently on display in 9 rooms.

enjoy, although possibly not immediately after eating.

20150523_tuscany_048 20150523_tuscany_055 20150523_tuscany_042 20150523_tuscany_046
20150523_tuscany_087 20150523_tuscany_079 20150523_tuscany_065 20150523_tuscany_085
20150523_tuscany_088 20150523_tuscany_070 20150523_tuscany_082 20150523_tuscany_066

cyprus 5: abandoned places

we came across a few abandoned villages during our drive through southern cyprus. sometimes, a village has been abandoned because an earthquake or water problem rendered it unlivable; however, it may be the case that a village was abandoned because it had been a turkish-cypriot village before the turkish invasion, and the residents left it for safety in the north.

20150314_cyprus_016 20150314_cyprus_023
20150314_cyprus_025 20150314_cyprus_021
20150313_cyprus_225 20150313_cyprus_212
20150313_cyprus_191 20150313_cyprus_199