towers and power in the communal
Located nell'ubertosa Val d'Elsa, between vineyards and olive groves, San Gimignano is one of the city's most fascinating historical towns of Tuscany and 'Italy. Origin is still obscure but certainly Etruscan been heard only in the tenth century AD C., as a village located on the waterfront between Pisa and Siena on the Via Francigena. The city's name derives from a mysterious Bishop of Modena who lived here in the fourth century, and which are related to folk tales of miraculous events and a macabre legend Middle Ages. Extraordinary the city center, still almost unchanged over the centuries and characterized by tower-houses and elegant buildings. San Gimignano is in fact famous for the dramatic effect given by all of its numerous and massive towers, which eloquently tells the eventful history of its inhabitants were built for defensive purposes by the major local families, often divided by civil wars for supremacy country. The towers, moreover, represented the social status of their owners: their height was proportional to the power of the family, and when a house was defeated, its tower was cut off (or "pollarded").
Welcome to the Middle Ages
just crossed the thirteenth century Porta San Giovanni, with segmental arch type Siena, which is the main entrance to the heart of town, the visitor is immediately immersed in a rarefied atmosphere of the Middle Ages. First you go up the narrow Via San Giovanni, plug the homonymous district (which is aligned with Via San Matteo, the route of the Via Francigena), where the high and austere buildings that seem almost bordering "protect". Then crossed the Arco dei Becci, it leads to the spectacular Piazza della Cisterna, which, together with the nearby Piazza del Duomo, is the urban center of San Gimignano. Triangular in shape, has a fine tank, built in the thirteenth century, and they show two magnificent palaces-fourteenth century, among which are mentioned at least the House Silvestrini, the Palace of Cortez with the so-called Devil's Tower and Palazzo Tortoli-Treccani with Torre Mozza, while on the west side stand the twin towers of the Ardinghelli.
The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta
From Piazza della Cisterna a step angle leads to the equally impressive Piazza del Duomo, where the atmosphere takes on the colors of the old stories and one can not but be enchanted. Here are located more improntanti civil and religious buildings of the town, among which the Collegiate Church (or Cathedral) of the Assumption, which dominates from a wide staircase, the western side of square. Built in the eleventh century in Romanesque style, the sacred complex underwent a first restructuring in 1239, and extended in 1460 by Giuliano da Majano. The façade (whose orientation was inverted during the thirteenth century changes) has an austere and devoid of ornament, almost in contrast to the glitz of nearby buildings. The interior has three naves, is instead characterized by a number of important frescoes and paintings on the walls of the nave on the left you can see a fourteenth-century cycle, created by Bartolo di Fredi, which describes the Old Testament on the counter are suggestive of Judgement Taddeo di Bartolo, always fourteenth century, and beneath a fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli representing The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian in the wall of the right aisle is also the depiction of the New Testament, made in the thirties of the fourteenth century by the brothers Federico and Lippo Memmi, and finally, the adjacent Chapel of Santa Fina, designed by Giuliano and Benedetto da Maiano, a remarkable example of the Tuscan Renaissance, with magnificent frescoes by Ghirlandaio.
The views of the Palazzo del Popolo and Torre Grossa
Also on Piazza del Duomo and then facing the Palazzo del Podesta, with high Rognosa Tower (52 meters), the twin towers and the splendid Palace of Salvucci People. The Town Hall and the Civic Museum, Palazzo del Popolo (called also Palazzo Nuovo del Podestà) was built in the late thirteenth century and expanded in the next century. The facade is crowned by merlons shows and open with elegant arched windows lowered. Within stands out above all the so-called Sala di Dante, frescoed by Memmi, by Fredi, by Gozzoli and dall'Azzo, which holds the memory of the passage of the "supreme poet" as a diplomat. Noteworthy are also the assembly hall as secret in the Sala della Torre and Hall of Trinity, while in the Picture Gallery are paintings of the Sienese and Florentine schools. On the right of its facade of the Palace stands, finally, the majestic Torre Grossa, 54 meters high, from the top of Torre Grossa there is a magnificent views in all directions, and the ancient town with its roofs and towers, is the enchanting countryside.
Other splendors
Besides Torri Salvucci is the gateway to the picturesque Via San Matteo, along this other buildings dating from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries: They include the Palace of the Chancellery, the House-and the Romanesque tower Pesciolini Church of San Bartolo. From the Porta San Matteo takes a detour instead to St. Augustine's Square, where there is the Church of St. Augustine, built in the thirteenth century, rich in works of art, and nearby, the small Romanesque Church of San Pietro. Other interesting places are the church of San Jacopo which preserves traces of the Knights Templar, the ancient sources, just outside the village, dating from various periods, and the ruins of fourteenth-century fortress of Montestaffoli, which offers a beautiful view over the towers and the village of San Gimignano.
not just art ...
San Gimignano is one of the places of choice of food and wine tourism in Italy: immersed in the Chianti Val d'Orcia and not far from the town suffers happily extraordinary wine and culinary traditions. In the picturesque (and sometimes elegant) restaurant in the historic center, often derived from the ancient town with wooden beams and stone walls, you can taste all the local dishes, including ..... Excellent course, the wine of the region, ...
TRAVEL NOTES
Directions:
from the North: take the A1 Milan-Rome, heading south, then exit Firenze Certosa motorway Firenze-Siena towards Siena, exit Poggibonsi Nord, then follow the signs to San Gimignano. From the South: Take the highway A1, Rome-Milan exit Val di Chiana, direction Siena, then motorway Siena-Florence, direction Florence and exit at Poggibonsi Nord, then follow the signs to San Gimignano.
Events:
- Harvest Holidays (third Saturday and Sunday in June)
- Academy of Leggieri - classical music concerts (summer)
- Film Festival (summer)
- Feast of Santa Fina (August)
- Feast of the Bishop Gimignano (31 January)
Link:
www.sangimignano.com
Located nell'ubertosa Val d'Elsa, between vineyards and olive groves, San Gimignano is one of the city's most fascinating historical towns of Tuscany and 'Italy. Origin is still obscure but certainly Etruscan been heard only in the tenth century AD C., as a village located on the waterfront between Pisa and Siena on the Via Francigena. The city's name derives from a mysterious Bishop of Modena who lived here in the fourth century, and which are related to folk tales of miraculous events and a macabre legend Middle Ages. Extraordinary the city center, still almost unchanged over the centuries and characterized by tower-houses and elegant buildings. San Gimignano is in fact famous for the dramatic effect given by all of its numerous and massive towers, which eloquently tells the eventful history of its inhabitants were built for defensive purposes by the major local families, often divided by civil wars for supremacy country. The towers, moreover, represented the social status of their owners: their height was proportional to the power of the family, and when a house was defeated, its tower was cut off (or "pollarded").
Welcome to the Middle Ages
just crossed the thirteenth century Porta San Giovanni, with segmental arch type Siena, which is the main entrance to the heart of town, the visitor is immediately immersed in a rarefied atmosphere of the Middle Ages. First you go up the narrow Via San Giovanni, plug the homonymous district (which is aligned with Via San Matteo, the route of the Via Francigena), where the high and austere buildings that seem almost bordering "protect". Then crossed the Arco dei Becci, it leads to the spectacular Piazza della Cisterna, which, together with the nearby Piazza del Duomo, is the urban center of San Gimignano. Triangular in shape, has a fine tank, built in the thirteenth century, and they show two magnificent palaces-fourteenth century, among which are mentioned at least the House Silvestrini, the Palace of Cortez with the so-called Devil's Tower and Palazzo Tortoli-Treccani with Torre Mozza, while on the west side stand the twin towers of the Ardinghelli.
The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta
From Piazza della Cisterna a step angle leads to the equally impressive Piazza del Duomo, where the atmosphere takes on the colors of the old stories and one can not but be enchanted. Here are located more improntanti civil and religious buildings of the town, among which the Collegiate Church (or Cathedral) of the Assumption, which dominates from a wide staircase, the western side of square. Built in the eleventh century in Romanesque style, the sacred complex underwent a first restructuring in 1239, and extended in 1460 by Giuliano da Majano. The façade (whose orientation was inverted during the thirteenth century changes) has an austere and devoid of ornament, almost in contrast to the glitz of nearby buildings. The interior has three naves, is instead characterized by a number of important frescoes and paintings on the walls of the nave on the left you can see a fourteenth-century cycle, created by Bartolo di Fredi, which describes the Old Testament on the counter are suggestive of Judgement Taddeo di Bartolo, always fourteenth century, and beneath a fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli representing The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian in the wall of the right aisle is also the depiction of the New Testament, made in the thirties of the fourteenth century by the brothers Federico and Lippo Memmi, and finally, the adjacent Chapel of Santa Fina, designed by Giuliano and Benedetto da Maiano, a remarkable example of the Tuscan Renaissance, with magnificent frescoes by Ghirlandaio.
The views of the Palazzo del Popolo and Torre Grossa
Also on Piazza del Duomo and then facing the Palazzo del Podesta, with high Rognosa Tower (52 meters), the twin towers and the splendid Palace of Salvucci People. The Town Hall and the Civic Museum, Palazzo del Popolo (called also Palazzo Nuovo del Podestà) was built in the late thirteenth century and expanded in the next century. The facade is crowned by merlons shows and open with elegant arched windows lowered. Within stands out above all the so-called Sala di Dante, frescoed by Memmi, by Fredi, by Gozzoli and dall'Azzo, which holds the memory of the passage of the "supreme poet" as a diplomat. Noteworthy are also the assembly hall as secret in the Sala della Torre and Hall of Trinity, while in the Picture Gallery are paintings of the Sienese and Florentine schools. On the right of its facade of the Palace stands, finally, the majestic Torre Grossa, 54 meters high, from the top of Torre Grossa there is a magnificent views in all directions, and the ancient town with its roofs and towers, is the enchanting countryside.
Other splendors
Besides Torri Salvucci is the gateway to the picturesque Via San Matteo, along this other buildings dating from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries: They include the Palace of the Chancellery, the House-and the Romanesque tower Pesciolini Church of San Bartolo. From the Porta San Matteo takes a detour instead to St. Augustine's Square, where there is the Church of St. Augustine, built in the thirteenth century, rich in works of art, and nearby, the small Romanesque Church of San Pietro. Other interesting places are the church of San Jacopo which preserves traces of the Knights Templar, the ancient sources, just outside the village, dating from various periods, and the ruins of fourteenth-century fortress of Montestaffoli, which offers a beautiful view over the towers and the village of San Gimignano.
not just art ...
San Gimignano is one of the places of choice of food and wine tourism in Italy: immersed in the Chianti Val d'Orcia and not far from the town suffers happily extraordinary wine and culinary traditions. In the picturesque (and sometimes elegant) restaurant in the historic center, often derived from the ancient town with wooden beams and stone walls, you can taste all the local dishes, including ..... Excellent course, the wine of the region, ...
TRAVEL NOTES
Directions:
from the North: take the A1 Milan-Rome, heading south, then exit Firenze Certosa motorway Firenze-Siena towards Siena, exit Poggibonsi Nord, then follow the signs to San Gimignano. From the South: Take the highway A1, Rome-Milan exit Val di Chiana, direction Siena, then motorway Siena-Florence, direction Florence and exit at Poggibonsi Nord, then follow the signs to San Gimignano.
Events:
- Harvest Holidays (third Saturday and Sunday in June)
- Academy of Leggieri - classical music concerts (summer)
- Film Festival (summer)
- Feast of Santa Fina (August)
- Feast of the Bishop Gimignano (31 January)
Link:
www.sangimignano.com
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