Derives from the finding out of numerous shell in a street out of the gate S.Giovanni a Busseto (during the Oligocene Siena was covered by the sea). Other say the badge is coming from the "machine" used by the quarter representing a statue of Neptune with a big shell in the back. Finally some say the name is due to the shape of the area it occupies, similar to a shell.
Light blue badge with a silver shell surmounted by a Grand-Duke crown. At its sides two red coral branches. Initially from the shell a string of pearl was hanging from the shell, now it has been replaced by a pendent made of three golden Savoy knot, interweaved with a silver and a red rose.
Light blue flag bordered in red and yellow.
The red of the coral burn in my heart.
Reservedness.
Potters
51
Saint Gaetano from Thiene, August 7 (celebrated on the second Sunday of August).
SanMartino
"La Pania", Via dei Pispini, 112
Via dei Pispini, 68/70
via dei Pispini, 56
Between via dei Pispini and via dell’Oliviera (officiated since 1685). It was built in 1680 from people of the Contrada and dedicated to the Protector Saint Gaetano from Thiene.
Like every Contrada, where the places of worship hosted the first meetings of the various peoples, even the niches gathered, until the mid-sixteenth century, in the ancient Church of San Giovanni Battista, not far from Porta Pispini, at the Badia New. But in 1656 the Sansedoni, owners of the church, ceded it to the Nuns of Santa Chiara and the men of Nicchio then retired to the Oratory of the Lay Company of Saint Stefano, now disappeared, which was located right in front of the Fonte dei Pispini in its historic location.
Soon the relationship with the Lay Company broke down and the people were eager to have their own church. At the end of the pitchfork between Via dei Pispini and via dell'Oliviera, after the purchase of two houses owned by the Augustinian nuns, it was decided to build their own Oratory and in 1683 work began on a project attributed to Giacomo Franchini that a few years earlier he had built the Oratory of the Contrada della Tartuca. We wanted to name the church to Saints Giacomo and Filippo but since the church of Abbadia Nuova was already dedicated to them, the choice fell on Saint Gaetano from Thiene.
In 1685 the masonry part was completed so much that, upon the positive opinion of the Archbishop Leonardo Marsili, he was officiated there for the feast of Saint Gaetano. But the completion work was long and laborious; it appears that the ally Contrada dell'Onda also provided generous help through building materials.
It is known that in 1710 not all the furnishings were completed even if, precisely in that year, the canvas painted by Giuseppe Passeri was placed on the high altar. The two frescoes on the walls were painted by Giuseppe Nasini in 1734 ("San Gaetano Thiene distributes bread to the poor", and "Saint Gaetano Thiene brings the sacraments to the plague victims").
The stuccos and the six statues that adorn the walls were the work of Franchini around the end of the 1700s and the "orchestra", where the organ of Josuè Agati is still located, was built in 1798.
The tile floor replaced, in 1840, the one probably made of terracotta squares and in 1885 Prof. Vincenzo Martinelli built "the wooden window sill worked in pure gold" with the stories of Saint Gaetano. Martinelli himself created the great tabernacle for the consecration of the Eucharist, the reliquaries, some candlesticks and the throne for the display of the Blessed Sacrament on the occasion of the "Forty hours".
The wooden statue of San Gaetano, carved in Val Gardena, was painted by Bruno Marzi in 1957. In 2002, the complete restoration of the Oratory began and ended, focusing precisely on the rediscovery of the original characteristics of the church, as they thought and the niches wanted it. Work was done to eliminate the damage caused by humidity, a terracotta pavement was installed to replace the black and white tiles, all the golden parts were restored. In 2006 the facade was completely restored.
Previous oratories:
- Saint Joseph the Baptist to Pispini (from the early 1600s to 1660).
- Church of the Saint Stefano Protomartire Company(from 1660 to 1684).
Pispini fountain (XVI century).