After visiting Siena have a stop, on the way back, in order to enjoy a stroll inside the small town of San Gimignano, with its high towers and the typical tiny shops. Here it’s impossible to get lost: there’s an only main street (closed to cars, you have to park outside the city), that is crossing the middle center and leading to the main monuments. The town is a UNESCO site in order to try preserving its original shape and appearance; the whole center is dating back to 13th - 14th century, age that in Italy is called “Età Comunale”. Founded by the Etruscans, San Gimignano during the Middle Ages gained a lot of importance, not only because it was just on the “Via Francigena”, the road that was crossed by the pilgrims from Canterbury to Rome, but also because it was on the way between Pisa and Siena, both main seats of Archbishops. Nowadays there are 14 towers left among the pre-existing 72; the towers are visible also arriving to the town from the outside, cause they rise up on the other side of the walls. You’ll find quite easy to walk inside the center and to visit the monuments. Among the artists that worked here let’s cite Benozzo Gozzoli, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Piero del Pollaiolo. Some of the opera’s from those artists are available inside the Cathedral, which walls are totally decorated with marvelous frescos representing themes from the Bible and the Gospels.
Before leaving San Gimignano don’t forget to buy a souvenir able to remember you about this beautiful town, as for example objects in earthenware or handmade leather gifts. |
