CENTRAL TUSCANY - Florence and Tuscany - page 205

Exploring San Gimignano
The “city of beautiful towers” is one
of the best-preserved medieval towns
in Tuscany. Its stunning skyline bristles
with tall towers dating from the 13th
century: 14 of the original 76 have
survived. These windowless towers
were built to serve both as private
fortresses and symbols of their owners'
wealth. In the Piazza della Cisterna, ringed by a jumble
of unspoilt 13th- and 14th-century palazzi , is a wellhead
built in 1237. Shops, galleries and jewellers line the two
main streets, Via San Matteo and Via San Giovanni,
which still retain their medieval feel.

Guelph (pro-pope) alliance
led by Florence. The walls are
covered with hunting scenes
and a huge Virgin Enthroned
by Lippo Memmi (1317).
The floor above has a small
art collection, which includes
Pinturicchio's Madonna with
Saints Gregory and Benedict
(1511) painted against a land-
scape of blues and greens. The
painting of San Gimignano
and his Miracles by Taddeo di
Bartolo shows the saint holding
the town - recognizably the
same city we see today. The
Wedding Scene frescoes by
Memmo di Filippucci (early
14th-century) show a couple
sharing a bath and going to
bed - an unusual record of
life in a wealthy household
in 14th-century Tuscany.

Fresco in
Sant'Agostino

E

Museo d'Arte Sacra
Piazza Pecori. Tel [phone].
#

Apr-Oct: 9:30am-7:10pm Mon-
Fri (to 5:10pm Sat), 12:30-5:10pm
Sun; Nov-Mar: 9:30am-4:40pm
daily (from 12:30pm Sun).
¢

&
The museum is entered from
Piazza Pecori, where buskers
play in summer. A chapel on
the ground floor contains
elaborate tomb slabs. The first
floor houses paintings, sculp-
ture and liturgical objects
from the Collegiata. A marble
bust (1493), by Benedetto da
Maiano, commemorates the
scholar Onofrio di Pietro.

4 weeks in winter.

San Gimignano's skyline, almost unchanged since the Middle Ages

P

Palazzo Vecchio del
Podestà
Piazza del Duomo.

54 m (175 ft). This is open to
the public and the views from
the top are quite stunning.
Worn frescoes in the court-
yard feature the coats of arms
of city mayors and magistrates,
as well as a 14th-century
Virgin and Child by Taddeo
di Bartolo. The first public
room is the Sala di Dante,
where an inscrip-
tion records the
poet's plea to
the city council
in 1300 to
support the

to the public.
The Palazzo Vecchio del
Podestà (the old mayor's pal-
ace) is in a group of public
buildings clustered around
the central Piazza del Duomo.
It has a vaulted loggia and
the 51-m (166-ft) Torre della
Rognosa, one of the oldest
towers in San Gimignano. A
law was passed in 1255 for-
bidding any citizen to build a
higher tower, but the rule was
often broken by rival families.

¢

R

Collegiata
Piazza del Duomo. Tel 0577 94
03 16.

# as Museo d'Arte Sacra,

above. &

The plain façade of this 12th-
century Romanesque church
belies its exotic interior; it is
one of the most frescoed
churches in Italy. The
arches bordering the
central aisle are painted
in striking blue and
white stripes, and the
deep blue paint of the
vaulted roof is speckled
with gold stars. The aisle
walls are extensively
covered with dramatic
fresco cycles of scenes
from the Bible. In the
north aisle the frescoes
are on three levels and
comprise 26 episodes
from the Old Testament,
including The Creation

¢ 21 Jan-28 Feb.

E

Museo Civico
Palazzo del Popolo, Piazza del
Duomo. Tel [phone].
Museum & Tower

Mar - Oct: 9:30am - 7pm daily;
Nov - Feb: 10am - 5:30pm
daily.

#

&
The Museo is on the
south side of the Piazza
del Duomo, in the
Palazzo del Popolo
(town hall). Its tower,
finished in 1311, is the
tallest in the city, at

¢ 31 Jan.

12th-century well and medieval palazzi in the
triangular Piazza della Cisterna