Saturday, July 12, 2008

San Gimignano, Italy



San Gimignano
is a small walled medieval hilltop town located on a hill (334m high) and dominates the area with its towers. Once the seat of a small Etruscan village of the Hellenistic period (200-300 BC) it began its life as a town in the 10th century taking its name from the Holy Bishop of Modena, St. Gimignano, who is said to have saved the village from the barbarian hordes. The town increased in wealth and developed greatly during the Middle Ages thanks to the "Via Francigena" the trading and pilgrim's route that crossed it. Such prosperity lead to the flourishing of works of art to adorn the churches and monasteries. In 1199 it became a free municipality and fought against the Bishops of Volterra and the surrounding municipalities. Due to internal power struggles it eventually divided into two factions one headed by the Ardinghelli family (Guelphs) and the other by the Salvucci family (Ghibellines).

By 1227 San Gimignano boasted 7000 inhabitants, about the number it has today. Commerce flourished and the merchants gave generously to public works projects, building fountains, paving squares, and erecting churches.They also built homes; space was at a premium within the city walls and they followed the common medieval practice of living above their shops. They were a proud lot; since the town Council had decreed that buildings were to be no more than 17 yards wide and 24 deep, they turned to architects to distinguish themselves from their neighbors. As a result, San Gimignano is a fascinating mix of styles, and medieval Sienese Gothic, with its elegant brickwork and pointed windows, mingles with more robust striped Pisan Romanesque and Florentine early Renaissance.

There's no getting around it, a three story Sienese Gothic building is still a three-story building. A white stone tower thrusting up into the sky is much more impressive, and those who could afford to build one did. Since the same edicts that limited the size of the lots also forbade anyone's building a tower taller than La Rognosa, the 165-foot-high tower of the town hall, the really wealthy, like the Ardinghelli, bought adjacent lots and built twin towers (theirs are in Piazza della Cisterna -- not to be outdone, the Salvucci, San Gimignano's other major family, built their twin towers in Via San Matteo, just off Piazza del Duomo.

On the 8th May 1300 Dante Alighieri came to San Gimignano as the Ambassador of the Guelph League in Tuscany. In 1348 San Gimignano's population was drastically reduced by the Black Death Plague throwing the city into a serious crisis which eventually led to its submission to Florence in 1353. In the following centuries San Gimignano overcame its decline and isolation when its beauty and cultural importance together with its agricultural heritage were rediscovered. The construction of the towers dates back to the 11th and 13th centuries.

San Gimignano can easily be seen in a day. If you arrive by car enter through Porta San Giovanni, built by the Sienese in 1261, and follow Via San Giovanni past the Pisan Romanesque black and white striped façade of San Francesco, the monastery Cosimo the First suppressed in 1553 (it's now a wine cellar with a spectacular view of the countryside), through the Arco dei Becci, one of the gates of the original city walls, and into Piazza della Cisterna, the social heart of town, where markets, tournaments,and plays were held.

You will most likely wish to begin with the cathedral, with its spectacular fresco cycles of the Old and new Testaments and its Last Judgment. Don't miss St. Fina's Chapel (to the right -- the admission charge will also get you into the other three municipal museums, and the custodian will give you a nice town map). The town's two art museums are both off Piazza del Duomo, one in the cloister of the cathedral, and the other in the Palazzo del Popolo, the new town hall that was completed in 1298. The former, the Museo d'Arte Sacra, hosts the treasures of the Church and a variety of Etruscan pots and urns found in the surrounding countryside over the centuries (if you take a walk in the fields you will still find Etruscan pot shards today). The latter, which is the town art gallery, has two nice 12th century crucifixes, several Gothic altarpieces, including one showing scenes from the life of Saint Gimignano, the Madonna with Saints Gregory and Benedict by Pinturicchio, and some amusing frescoes of family life, with a couple taking a bath in a tub and going to bed. The Museo Comunale also has the Torre Grande, which takes some effort to climb but offers a stunning view.

Next you will probably want to see Sant'Agostino, the finest of the surviving monasteries (San Domenico looks more imposing from the outside, but has been transformed into a prison). Leave Piazza del Duomo along Via San Matteo, and turn right just before the gate, onto Via Cellolese.

Sant'Agostino was one of the last churches completed in San Gimignano, and is one of the few examples of Renaissance architecture in the town. You enter from a side door; to the left there is a nice marble altar dedicated to St. Bartolo, whose bones are in the urn, done by Benedetto da Maiano in 1494. There are also the frescoes of the life of Saint Augustine in the apse behind the main altar, painted by Benozzo Gozzoli in 1465, which give a good idea of what life was like for the wealthy in 15th century Italy. Benozzo had a keen eye for detail, and managed to include it in ways that suggest people were doing better than they had the century before (and that a modern viewer might find out of place), for example the two naked boys playing with a puppy in the background while Santa Monica lies on her deathbed.

Beautiful as San Gimignano is, there's more than just art and countryside. Hundreds of years ago the residents grew crocuses and exported saffron throughout the known world; the ancient art is now being revived but in the meantime, saffron's place in San Gimignano's economy has been taken by Vernaccia, a white wine whose origins are shrouded in the mists of time: Some even suggest that the grapes used to make it were brought by the Etruscans. In any case, over the centuries the vines adapted superbly to the soil, and by the Renaissance Vernaccia was considered Italy's finest white wine, fit for poets, artists and Popes. Because of its historical renown, it was the first Italian wine to be awarded DOC status, in 1966.

So after checking out everything within the town walls we decided to take the 2 mile scenic hike around the city walls. The hike was pretty intense and Hailey threatened to quit many times but in the end the views, playing in the water fountain, and the family bonding made up for it all! We then stopped to have a glass of Vernaccia wine as we gazed out over the country side and watched the sun slowly set behind the hills. What an amazing experience and a great way to wrap up our visit to two of the most beautiful Tuscan hill towns that Italy has to offer.



Beginning of the hike

Views on the scenic hike!


As you can see by the end of the hike we were all exhausted and my hair was pulled up!

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