San Gimignano Virtual Tour
San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena. Founded as a fortification to defend themselves from enemy raids, San Gimignano is imposing with the surrounding Walls and the numerous Towers, an excellent example of a medieval city. It is located on a hill of the Val d'Elsa and today the towers, which may be seen from several kilometres outside the town, are like a group of ancient knights ready to welcome visitors. The city still preserves the features of the medieval San Gimignano, and, despite the restoration work of the towers and buildings made in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, is able to convey the various vicissitudes of history and thus the various cultural influences.
In the centre of the town there is Piazza Duomo (Duomo's Square) and at the top of a staircase rises prominently the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Assunta flanked by impressive towers: the Tower of the Palazzo del Podesta, the Salvucci's Twin Towers and the “Rognosa Tower” in front of the Church. Enchanting is the Cloister adjacent to the Church (Piazza Pecori). The Via San Giovanni has a slight and paved slope and is rich of several historic buildings: the remains of the Pisan Romanesque facade of San Francesco, the tower-houses, the Pratellesi Palace and, a little further away, the Arco dei Becci beyond which lies the Piazza della Cisterna, so named for the presence of an octagonal travertine Well.
The Historic centre of San Gimignano, the town of the beautiful towers, in 1990 has been inserted from UNESCO in the list of the World-Heritage Patrimony of the humanity.
Siena 360°: San Gimignano VR Panoramas
SIENA 360° … SAN GIMIGNANO
Via San Giovanni with the Cuganesi Tower and the portal of San Giovanni
Via San Giovanni, which leads from Porta San Giovanni to Piazza della Cisterna, is the most important street, with via San Matteo, in the Historic centre of San Gimignano. The street was born when the area was still outside the Walls and led to the old portal (Arco dei Becci).
Piazza della Cisterna - "Square of the Well"
Via San Giovanni ends in Piazza della Cisterna that has the shape of an irregular triangle. The square is surrounded the imposing towers and its name derives from the presence of an octagonal travertine Well.
Duomo Square in front of the Collegiata Church
In Piazza Duomo there are the Torre Grossa and the Loggia del Comune, the Palazzo del Popolo, inside which has its seat the Museo Civico guardian of important art works of Sienese and Florentine Schools; at the top of a staircase there is the Collegiate Church with the facade that overlooks the square with two portals and three circular windows.
Collegiate Church from Piazza Pecori
Piazza Pecori is adjacent to the Collegiate Church. The only entrance is from the Saint John's Arch which connects the square to Piazza Duomo. Piazza Pecori is more like a private courtyard and is characterized by a paving brick in a herringbone pattern, by the Loggia del Battistero and by the massive Torre Grossa.
Cloister of the "Palazzo del Popolo"
The Palace, expanded in 1323, has windows with segmental arches. The lower part of the building is composed of large square stones while the upper part is brick. The first-floor central window has a balcony supported by old corbels, which once supported a gallery from which the Podestà spoke to the crowd.
Panorama from the Rocca of Montestaffoli
From the "Rocca of Montestaffoli" we have a magnificent panorama over the surrounding hills and over San Gimignano with the towers that rise from the rooftops of the town. The higher is the Torre Grossa, built in 1311, which measures less than 54 meters.
