Mapping SIENA

Siena keeps surprising me. The city of the Palio is going to host what seems to be the only free Patti Smith concert during her 2012 tour in Europe . The poetess of rock has already had gigs in Arezzo and Viareggio this July and August. That's quite an amount of Patti Smith concerts  for one Tuscan summer. The reason for the abundance may be that the American singer/songwriter is supposed to own a house in Southern Tuscany's Maremma. Good on her! And lucky for us. Patti Smith will play songs from her new album Banga, one of them dedicated to the premature death of Amy Winehouse (see video above). She will be accompanied by her  stellar band: Lenny Kaye (guitar/voice), Jay Dee Daugherty (percussion) Tony Shanahan (bass, piano and voice) and Jack Petruzzelli (guitar).  PATTI SMITH, SIENA PIAZZA DEL CAMPO, Friday 31st of August 2012. Concert starts at 9.30pm.

When it comes to Renaissance art, you're often meant to look up - so as to take in frescoes on ceilings and high medieval walls. Once your neck starts aching, don't book a massage, but buy a ticket to visit Siena's cathedral and its incredibly ornamented floor. Admiring the cathedral's grounds covered in marble intarsia will provide plenty of opportunity to stretch those sore muscles into the opposite direction.  The cathedral's marble floor uncovered

AUGUST 10 is Italy's Notte di San Lorenzo - a night dedicated to watching shooting stars whilst tasting Tuscan wines. This year in Siena it's also a night of music.  Medici Fortress - 9.45pm Pianist Danilo Rea and singer songwriter Gino Paoli (see video above) are two of Italy's greatest names in Jazz. Both of them have been able to have regular stints in Italian pop music without ever leaving quality behind.  The open-air concert is part of the yearly celebration of Siena's democratic party located in the fortress. Political debate and many more free concerts will entertain the people who spend August in the city of the Palio: Festa PD at the Medici Fortress Chigi Saracini Palace - 9.15pm The final concert of the masters summer course for violinists with Boris Belkin will take place at the Accademia Chigiana's HQ with st udents from Japan, France, Mexico, Russia and Italy.  On Saturday August 11 the final concert of the cello master course will

Thanks to the concert cycle of the 81st edition of the  Estate Musicale Chigiana Siena is getting a fine share of first class life events during summer 2012. This August musicians like Italian star violist Salvatore Accardo will make sure we're going to forget the unbearable heat of Tuscany's summer at least for a few evenings. 

Siena's great wine shop and bar in the Medici fortress The spacious inside grounds of Siena's fortress are the location for many of the towns summer events. This week Siena Jazz offers great free concerts during the time of its summer courses in the rooms of the Enoteca Italiana. At  the same time the program of Siena's summer cinema comes to a close with a few great films (albeit in Italian language) until the 5th of August: Thursday, August 2 Millenium with Daniel Craig (who has been running through Siena's backstreets as 007 in Quantum of Solace ) Friday, August 3 This Must Be The Place with Sean Penn Saturday, August 4 Intouchables The great film from France  Sunday, August 5 The Iron Lady with Mer yl Streep Amphitheater of the Medici Fortress (near Piazza La Lizza, the main bus stop in town).  Film start at 9.45pm. Tickets 5€ (reduced price for pensioners and children under 12, 4€). Make time for a glass of Tuscan red before or after th