This past Friday, I took a field trip to Siena where I was able to visit the Basilica Di San Domenico and the Duomo Di Siena Cathedral. As the Catholic fanatic that I am, I could not help myself from gritting through my teeth or from tapping my fingers awaiting to hear about the underlying history that lays inside these sacred churches. My first word when I saw these two amazing pieces of architecture was “WOW” because I was honestly speechless. I was shocked to learn that for the first time in months I could not come up with the appropriate words to describe these two holy places that were just inches away. After standing in the middle of the front entrance with my sweaty wobbly legs, I started to make my way inside the Basilica and the Duomo and I was immediately stunned by all the statues of God, Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and all the surrounding angels.
Walking around this holy place, I could feel the tiny hair from my back standing up and the constant shivers running through my spine. The more I continued to walk through the church and the cathedral, the more I began to feel overwhelmed by the different pictures of art that represented a different part of Jesus Christ journey. Each portrait was able to show me a different part, such as his last supper, where he suffered under Pontius Pilate, and how he was crucially crucified. The vivid paintings displayed throughout the church also represented the underlying sadness, pain, and suffering the Virgin Mary felt as she watched the crucifixion of her son.
The more I walked along the church and the cathedral, the more surreal it became because I could not stop thinking about the architecture, history, or secrets that surround these holy walls. During the tour, I was surprised and sadden to learn that one of my favorite colors, blue was considered to be the worst color during ancient times. I later learned that the reason why blue was viewed in such a negative light was because it represented the symbol of death, but fortunately that all changed in the mid twelve hundreds when the Virgin Mary started to be symbolized wearing blue. Even the Ancient Romans considered blue as one of their barbarian colors. Since blue was no longer the “death color”, black became the lute color and similar to blue it later became known as the color of elegance.
Prior to visiting Siena I always wondered why Siena decided to expand the Duomo. To my surprise, I was able to learn that during the second half of the thirteen hundreds, the Siena residents decided that a bigger and more symbolic second part needed to be added in order to outstand their Florence rivals. As I reflect back to my adventure in Siena, I can’t help myself to continue to be amazed and shocked at this star struck medieval city.
*Ciao, il mio nome è Selyna Bermudez. Sono una studentessa dell’Università del Nevada, Las Vegas. Il mio indirizzo è il giornalismo con studi sui media e sui servizi umani. Questa estate sto studiando in Italia a Viterbo con USAC. Ho scelto una piccola città, per vivere la tranquillità e le bellezze che offre. Essere una parte di essa mi permetterà di esplorare la mia scrittura e dare voce a ciò che vedo. Sono felice di iniziare questo viaggio straordinario di scrittura!
