S1DOOT. 



SIENA. 



670 



N. by E. from Tyre, 20 miles S. from Berytus (Beyrout), and 66 miles 

 W. from Damascus. It possessed a good harbour, and at a very early 

 period becam a great maritime and commercial city. As early as 

 the time of Joshua (B.C. 1414) it is called 'Great Zidon.' The Sidon- 

 ians are thought to have been the first manufacturers of glass (Pliu., 

 v. 17), and their skill in arts and manufactures is frequently referred 

 to by Homer, as well as by later writers. They are often mentioned 

 in the Bible as skilful builders. They were worshippers of the god- 

 dew Ashtoreth, whose head is commonly found upon their coins. 



At the division of Canaan among the Israelites, Sidon, with the 

 adjacent country, fell to the tribe of Asher, who were never able to 

 conquer it. The importance of Sidon was gradually eclipsed by that 

 of Tyre, which then became the chief city of Phoenicia. \Vheu 

 Shalinanezer invaded Syria, Sidon separated itself from Tyre, and sur- 

 rendered to him. The Sidonians furnished the best ships in the fleet 

 which Xerxes collected for the invasion of Greece. (Herod., vii. 96 ; 

 viii. 67.) Under Artazerxes Ochus the Sidonians revolted, together 

 with the other Phoenicians and the Cyprians. After a short siege 

 Sidon was betrayed to Oehus by its king, Tennes, upon which the 

 Sidonians burnt themselves with their city and treasures. (Uiod. Sic., 

 rvi. 41-45.) The city was rebuilt. It submitted to Alexander the 

 Great without resistance. After his death it was subject alternately 

 to the kings of Egypt and Syria, till it fell under the power of the 

 Romans. Saida, or Seyde, (till a place of some commerce, with about 

 6000 inhabitants, retains the name, and occupies part of the site of 

 the ancient city, of which some traces are said to exist two miles inland. 

 In a hill near the town are innumerable sepulchral cells, the walls of 

 which in many instances are covered with Phoenician inscriptions. In 

 the mountains, 8 mile* east of Saida, U Djon, long the residence of 

 Lady Hester Stanhope, who died here June 1839. Sidon suffered a 

 bombardment by the allied fleets of England, Austria, and Turkey 

 in 1840. 



I'bu nicun coin of gtdoo. 

 8IDOUT. [CUDDAFAH.] 



8IKDLKC. [POLAND.] 



SIENA, a province (compartimento) of Tuscany, which formerly 

 comprehended the whole southern part of the grand-duchy, ounee 

 ponding to the territory of the former republic of Siena, is bounded 

 N. by Florence, W. by the Mediterranean, E. by Arexzo, and 8. by 

 the Papal Stated, from which it is partly divided by the river Fiora. 

 The territory of the republic U now divided into two provinces, Siena 

 and Orosseto. The province of Siena com prebends the highlands, or 

 northern and aastsiu parti of the country ; that of Oroserto com- 

 pruheaili the Jtei'u and southern lowlands, or the extensive maremma 

 known geographicalr* by the name of Maremma Sinese, to distinguish 

 it from the Pvan Maremma. The area and population of the two 

 protutues are as follows : 



The province of Siena lies in the upper basin of the Ombrone, and 

 iU affluents the Arbia. the Mrea, and the Orcia. The Ombrone, called 

 Umbro Major by the Romans, to distinguish it from the Umbro Minor 

 of Putoia, is the largest river of Tuscany next to the Arno : it rises 

 from a copious source near Ceta Mura, or Civita Mura, in the Monti 

 di Chianti, a subapennine ridge which divides the valley of the Om- 

 brone from that of the Upper Arno, and Bows southward by Berar- 

 denga and Asciano, skirting the western base of Monte San Savino, 

 which divides it from the valley of the Chiana; it then passes by the 

 town of Buonconvento, below which it receives the Arbuttrom the 

 north, which psssus near the city of Siena. The Ombrone then inclines 



to the south-west, flowing along' the western base of the hills of MOD 

 IsJcino, and receives the If ma from the north-west, a tortuous stream 

 which has a course of above fifty miles. It then flows directly south, 

 through a narrow and deep defile between the hills of Montalcino on 

 the east, and a hilly tract on the west that divides the waters of the 

 Ombrone from those of the Bruna, which flows into the Lake of 

 fullfliiiiie Issuing from the narrow gorge beyond Moutc Antico, 

 the Ombrone receives from the eastward the Oreia, a mountain torrent 

 which drains the northern side of the volcanic group of Radicof.ini 

 and MunUmisU, and also the hilly region of Montepulciano. Tim 

 Orei* has a course of about thirty miles. Passing by Paganico, the 

 Ombrone forms a bend to the south-east, and passing through a low 

 ridge it enters the wide plain of the Maremma, through which it 



flows in a south-west direction, passing near Grosseto and the Lake 

 of Castiglione, into which part of its water is conducted by a canal, 

 in order to fill up by its alluvium that pestilential swamp ; the main 

 body of the river enters the sea at Torre della Trappola, after a course 

 of about eighty miles. 



The province of Siena consists of highlands and valleys, being 

 crossed by various ranges of hills, composed mostly of marls covered 

 by yellow-sand, and abounding with organic remains. [APENNINES.] 

 Few summits exceed 1000 feet, except the Montagna di Cetona, or 

 Monte Pisi, on the borders of the Val di Chiana, which ia above 2500 

 feet high ; the volcanic cone of Radicofani, which is above 3000 feet ; 

 and the partly volcanic group of Montamiata, or Monte Santa Fiora, 

 which rises to about 5000 feet above the sea. The chief products are 

 corn, wine, silk, fruit, and oil. Excellent marble is quarried near 

 Siena. The province is crossed by the railway that unites Siena with 

 the Florence, Pisa, and Leghorn line at Empoli. 



The following are the principal towns: Siena, which is noticed ia 

 a separate article. Montalcino, a walled town and bishop's see, 

 situated on a lofty hill 20 miles south-east of Siena : it has a cathedral, 

 a clerical seminary, several other churches and convents ; manufac- 

 tures of coarse linen, hats, pottery, and leather; and about 3800 

 inhabitants. Colle, on the slope of a hill near the sources of the river 

 Elss, an affluent of the Arno, 12 miles north-west of Siena, is a 

 bishop's see ; it has a fine cathedral, several other churches, a large 

 hospital, a clerical seminary, a conservatory for the education of young 

 girls, paper-mills, manufactories of woollens and hats, of glass, pottery, 

 and leather, and about 2500 inhabitants. 



The province of Grostcto consists chiefly of a vast tract of maremma 

 along the coast of the Mediterranean from the valley of the Cornia on 

 the borders of the province of Pisa, to the Lake of Burano and the 

 river Fiora, being a length of about 70 miles, whilst its breadth from 

 the sea-coast inland is from 15 to 20 miles. Besides the Ombrone, 

 several rivers flow from the hills, which form a belt along the inland 

 aide of the Maremma, and crossing the plain run into the sea after a 

 short course. These streams are, the Cornia, which after a course of 

 24 miles enters the shore-lake of Piombiuo ; the Pecora, a small river 

 near Massa, which enters the shore-lake of Scarlino ; the Bruna, which 

 enters the Lake of Castiglione; the Albcyna, which, rising in the 

 Monte Labro (a summit about 3600 feet high, forming part of the 

 group of Montamiata) flows rapidly southward, past the ruins of the 

 Etruscan city of Saturnia, and crossing the Maremma enters the sea 

 north of Monte Argentaro. 



The Maremma is not a uniform level, for at several points the hills 

 approach near to the sea, dividing the plain into several basins, distin- 

 guished by the names of Maremma of Massa, Maremma of Grosseto, 

 Ac. Active measures were commenced for the drainage of a portion 

 of the marshes of Grosseto, by the grand-ducal goverment in 1852. 

 There is a succession of shore-lakes along the sea-coast, which by 

 their mephitic exhalations in summer occasion malaria. The largest 

 are the lagoon of Castiglione, and the Lake of Orbetello, which is 

 salt, and occupies an area of about ten square miles. Between the 

 Lake of Orbetello and the sea rises the rocky and lofty promontory of 

 Mote Argentaro, a conspicuous object from, the sea, which appears to 

 have been once an island. Monte Argentaro is of calcareous forma- 

 tion ; it occupies an area about 22 miles in circumference, and the 

 summit is about 1700 feet high. It U joined to the mainland by two 

 very narrow and low isthmuses which run between the Lake of 

 Orbetello and the sea-coast, the northernmost of which ia intersected 

 by a narrow canal, uniting the lake and the sea. The sea at the base 

 of Monte Argentaro is very deep, and forms two good harbours, Santo 

 Stefcuto on the north and Part i'rcole on the east. Port Ercole has n 

 strong fort, and several towers defend the coast on the foot of tho 

 mount. The mountain is covered with forests which abound in 

 game : it has copious springs and excellent pastures, and the air is 

 perfectly healthy. Near Port Ercole are the ruins of the ancient 

 Etrurian and Roman town of Cota. The ruins are called Antedonia, 

 for what reason is unknown. The walls constructed with nicely-fitted 

 polygonal blocks of hard limestone still remain in tolerable preserva- 

 tion, with a chain of towers, of which 14 still remain. The walls of 

 Cosa inclose a quadrangle about a mile in circuit, forming the level 

 summit of a hill about 600 feet above the sea. At the foot of the 

 hill was a station Subcota, or Succoia, on the Aurelian way. Port 

 Ercole, which still retains its ancient name (Porttu Iferculis), was the 

 port of Cosa. It is situated opposite Cosa, under tho shoulder of 

 Monte Argentaro. 



The air of the Maremma is very unwholesome, and the towns 

 situated in it, with the exception of Orbetello, are thinly inhabited, 

 and subject to the malaria fever. The principal branch of industry is 

 the rearing of cattle, which feed in the wide solitary plains, and tho 

 cutting of timber in the extensive forests, Corn is sown, but not to 

 a great extent. The wine made in the Maremma is not in much 

 esteem. Great hydraulic works undertaken since the accession of 

 the present Grand Duke, have already produced a considerable improve- 

 ment in the atmosphere of a portion of the Maremma. Several of 

 the lagoons have been entirely drained, and become cultivable land ; 

 the rivers have been embanked ; a fine road has been opened along 

 the length of the province, parallel to the line of the ancient Via 

 Aurelia; handsome bridges have been thrown across the rivers; 



