SHOP
Via S.Giovanni, 16
San Gimignano (Siena), Italia
Telephone and Fax +39.0577.940407

FARMHOUSE
Loc. Montauto
San Gimignano (Siena), Italia
Telephone +39.0577.943049

GPS COORDINATES (FARMHOUSE)
Latitude: 43.4493°N
Longitude: 11.0375°E

SAN GIMIGNANO

San Gimignano, with its famous towered skyline, stands on a hill (334m above sea level) overlooking the Elsa valley on the site of a small Etruscan settlement dating from the Hellenistic period (Third to Second century B.C.). Its history begins around the Tenth Century. It takes its name from the canonised Bishop of Modena who saved the town from Totila’s invading hordes in the Sixth Century. It developed considerably during the Middle Ages thanks to the Via Francigena which runs through the town, and there was a remarkable flowering of works of art adorning churches, palaces and monasteries. When in 1199 the town became a free commune, ridding itself of the Feudal ties to the Bishop of Volterra, it began its impressive growth as an urban centre. It fought against the bishop and neighbouring communes, but suffered from internal strife, splitting into tow factions, followers of the Ardinghellis (Guelphs) and the Salvuccis (Ghibellines). In the Thirteenth Century, under the Ghibelline government, San Gimignano knew its highest economical splendour, based on the commerce of its agricultural products, such as its fine-quality saffron. Its firm economy benefit the development of a urban aristocratic class who boasted its political power by building the famous towers: in the Fourteenth century there were 72 towers. On 8th May 1300 the poet Dante Alighieri gave a speech to the town to support the Guelph (pro-Pope) Alliance in Tuscany. The terrible plague of 1348 and subsequent fall in population dealt a severe blow to the trading economy of San Gimignano. The deep crisis led the governors of the city to declare their submission to Florence. In the succeeding centuries San Gimignano suffered considerable decline and neglect. However, the beauty of the town and its artistic and architectural importance have led in recent years to an excellent agricultural, economic, and cultural revival. In spite of its economical and political decline, the Fifteenth and the Sixteenth centuries were very important from an artistic point of view thanks to several Sienese and Florentine artists who worked in San Gimignano: Memmo di Filippuccio, Lippo and Federico Memmi, Taddeo di Bartolo, Benozzo Gozzoli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Sebastiano Mainardi (who was born in San Gimignano), etc. At the end of the Twentieth century a new attention was focused on the town, which in 1929 was declared a protected monument. In 1990 the town was registered in the list of UNESCO’s World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

TOURIST ITINERARIES

COLLEGIATA CHURCH

Commonly called DUOMO or BASILICA DI SANTA MARIA ASSUNTA: consecrated in 1148 it is considered one of the best examples of Tuscan Romanic style. It is divided in three naves and the walls are totally covered with frescoes. Among the most important frescoes we can mention: St. Sebastian by Benozzo Gozzoli, and Stories from the life of St. Fina by Domenico Ghirlandaio in the Chapel of St. Fina. The Church also houses important works of the Sienese School: Old and New Testament by Bartolo di Fredi and by “Bottega dei Memmi” and The Last Judgement by Taddeo di Bartolo. To be noted the sculptures by Benedetto and Giuliano da Maiano and Annunciation, two wooden statues by Iacopo della Quercia.

PALAZZO COMUNALE

This Palace houses the CIVIC MUSEUM and the PICTURE GALLERY with masterpiece works by Pinturicchio, Benozzo Gozzoli, Filippino Lippi, Domenico di Michelino, Pier Francesco Fiorentino and many other artists. The Sala di Dante, with a huge Maestà (Virgin in Majesty) by Lippo Memmi can be visited as part of the Civic Museum together with its tower Torre Grossa, 54m high, finished in 1311.

CHIESA DI SANT'AGOSTINO

This Church includes many frescoes, in particular in the Chapel of Saint Bartolo (by Benedetto da Maiano), and other frescoes, paintings and altar pieces by various painters (Benozzo Gozzoli, Piero del Pollaiolo, Pier Francesco Fiorentino, Vincenzo Tamagni, Sebastiano Mainardi).

MUSEO D'ARTE SACRA

This museum was created in 1915 and housed in the Sacristy of the Cloister Chapel until 1929, when it was definitely moved to its current seat. I has been recently reorganised and it hosts paintings, sculpture, and liturgical objects from ancient churches and monasteries, from the Collegiata, and from private donations.

ARCHEOLOGICAL MUSEUM

Archeological Museum, a collection of Etruscan, Roman, and medieval artefacts discovered around San Gimignano. Spezieria di Santa Fina, exhibiting material coming from Spezieria dello Spedale di Santa Fina, and reproducing the layout and original scents of the ancient pharmacy, with its ceramic and glass vases and old medicaments. “Raffaele De Grada” Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, the largest exhibition space in the city.