San Gimignano

San Gimignano is a beautiful small town with a population of approximately 8,000 people located in the province of Siena in Tuscany. San Gimignano is towering over Tuscany’s lush countryside like taken straight out of a fairy tale. For many Tuscany connoisseurs, San Gimignano is one of their absolute favorite places. The city used to be a stop for pilgrims along the way to Rome along Via Francigena, and it is considered by many to be Italy’s most beautiful medieval city. It’s known for its medieval town center with a number of towers, and no one can travel to San Gimignano without seeing the enchanting old-town surrounded by walls. Get an insight into the city’s 700-year-old history as you wander the cobbled streets.

Piazza Duomo, one of the three central piazzas that are connected to each other, is a great starting point for your walk around the city. A short walk from the old city center will lead you to several architectural treasures. Among these are the Chiesa di Sant’Agostino and Chiesa di San Pietro in Forliano, and the churches by Piazza Sant’Agostino. Check out the magnificent religious paintings from the 14th century that adorn the Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta church. Walk through the impressive gate vault of Piazza Marie Assunta ,which has been one of the community’s gathering places for centuries, and admire the 13th century palaces and towers located here, including Torre dei Becci and Torre dei Cugnanesi. Catch your breath on the peaceful Piazza delle Erbe. You can see even more art collections at the Palazzo Comunale. Enjoy the magnificent view from the palace’s Torre Grossa, which is one of 15 remaining towers.

Don’t forget to let your walk take you outside the city walls as well. The wall has several beautiful portals leading in to the city, and some of these originates from the famous Medici family from Florence who controlled San Gimignano around the 13th century. One of the oldest portals is the 12th-century Porta San Matteo, located north of the historic center at the intersection of Via Cellolese and Via San Matteo.

Colorful markets, farmers’ markets and festivals are arranged at the town square all year-round. A good time for a vacation in San Gimignano is in January or February, as the streets are filled with the colorful parades of the city’s carnival. In mid-June, a festival is held in honor of the city’s Saint, and the festival lasts for several days.

Sitting at 324 meter above sea level, San Gimignano is clearly visible in the distance with its many towers. During the 14th century, each prosperous family built a tower to show their economic prosperity, but only 15 of the 72 towers remain. Many of the towers are still visible in the buildings, even though they have been torn down.

Taste the local wine, and learn about the city’s wine making traditions at the wine museum Vernaccia di San Gimignano. The Strada del Vino Vernaccia di San Gimignano Association was started in July of 1999, and has existed since January of 2000. The association gathers 70 operators from the local agricultural and tourist market: vineyards, agriculture, restaurants, wine shops and others. Their goal is to promote the typical products of the region as well as offer visitors the opportunity to discover the local cuisine and traditional production processes.

During the last few years, the city has developed a quality policy within the world of wine, and has established themselves on the market as a symbol of “made in Italy”.

The wines produced in the San Gimignano region is; Vernaccia di San Gimignano DOCG, San Gimignano Rosso DOC and I.G.T. Toscana. Combined roughly 9 million bottles are sold every year, where 70% is sold internationally and the other 30% are sold domestically.

The success of the wine is also closely related to the international appeal that is San Gimignano. This city, rich in art and history with a spot on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List, has a proven ability to maintain and improve their treasures. Because of this, San Gimignano and its wined earned a special recognition from the Vernaccia di San Gimignano wine experience La Rocca, which is the local center for documentation and tasting of the Vernaccia di San Gimignano wine.

Sipping from a glass of Vernaccia di San Gimignano in one of Tuscany’s most captivating landscapes is an extraordinary experience.

Gelateria Dondoli is famous all over the world and they claim to be make the best ice cream in the whole world. Sergio Dondoli keeps winning awards for his ice cream and is known to be experimenting with flavors. His natural gelato is made from the best seasonal ingredients. Some of the best flavors are; champelmo, a champagne and grapefruit sorbet that can help you fightoff the heat of summer, Curva Fiesole with blueberries and fresh ricotta, Rosemary baby with raspberries and rosemary, and of course outstanding flavor of chocolate and pistachios.

You can make a one day trip to San Gimignano from Florence. It’s about an hour by car. Siena is even closer, just a 45 minute drive. It is easy to get here by car, but you may not drive into the historic downtown itself. You can park on the parking lots outside of town, or check in to see if the hotel you are staying at has parking spots available. If you prefer not to drive, there are buses available from both Florence and Siena, but you have to stop by Poggibonsi and change buses. San Gimignano does not have a train station. The closest one is in Poggibonsi, so another option is to take the train to Poggibonsi and then the local bus to San Gimignano.