Siena
or SIENNA, a city of central Italy, on three connecting hills on the S. frontiers of Tuscany, 59 miles S. of Florence, is surrounded by old walls, entered by nine gates, and has also a citadel; the streets are irregular, steep and narrow.
It has a university with faculties of law and medicine, and a cathedral, begun in the early years of the 13th century, which is one of the finest examples of Italian Gothic architecture. The The municipal palace, begun in 1288, is a fine specimen of Pointed Gothic. It stands in the historic Piazza del Campo, now the Piazza di Vittorio Emmanuele, a large open semicir cular space in the center of the city, and is adorned with frescoes of the Sienese school. The institute of fine arts contains a valuable collection of pictures of the oldest Sienese painters. There are various other buildings of interest, including churches and palaces. The manufactures are not of much importance. In the Middle Ages Siena gave its name to a school SIENKIEWICZ of painting, and was the birthplace of famous painters, sculptors, and architects. mittee for Polish victims. He died in It was long the powerful rival of Flor- SIERRA LEONE was president of the General Relief Com- 14/A SIENA CATHEDRAL ence, but was annexed by Tuscany in 1557. Siena is the seat of an archbishop.
Pop. commune about 41,700.