San Gimignano

Located in the heart of the Elsa Valley, in a very green landscape of olive groves and vineyards and dotted with castles, villas, and rural buildings, San Gimignano is among the most fascinating small cities of the period of the medieval city republics in Italy. The historic center, which has remained almost unaltered over the centuries, is extraordinary and is characterized by tower-houses and elegant medieval buildings. San Gimignano is, in fact, famous for the spectacular "closed in" effect, given by the togetherness of the numerous and powerful towers, which eloquently tell of the colorful history of its inhabitants: constructed for defensive reasons by the major families of the location, often divided by fratricide for the supremacy of the town, the towers represented the social status of their owners and their height was proportional to the power of the family; so, when a family was defeated, its tower was taken down as a symbol of the family's decline. Up to now, the origins of San Gimignano are obscure. The location were it rose was certainly occupied by an inhabited Etruscan area, but there is only documentation of this place beginning in the 10th century, as a village situated between Pisa and Siena on a stretch of the Via Francigena. Even the name of the city is wrapped up by a halo of mystery: it is derived from a bishop from Modena who lived here in the 4th century, and to whom the popular stories of miraculous events and macabre legends are linked.
The visit to San Gimignano can begin from the 13th-century Porta San Giovanni, with lowered Sienese arch, which makes up the principle entrance to the heart of the city. After going beyond the opening, the visitor finds himself immediately immersed in a medieval atmosphere so incredibly complete that it hardly seems real. At first you go down the narrow Via San Giovanni, backbone of the district of the same name. Then going beyond the Arch of Becci, you flow into the scenic, Piazza della Cisterna, which, together with the nearby Piazza del Duomo, makes up the most famous place and urban fulcrum of San Gimignano. A triangular shape, it is home to a beautiful Cistern, constructed in the 13th century, and they face magnificent 13th- and 14th-century buildings, among which at least Casa Silvestrini, Palazzo dei Cortesi with the so-called Devil Tower and Palazzo Tortoli-Treccani with Mozza Tower should be mentioned, while on the east side rise the twin Ardinghelli Towers. 
From Piazza della Cisterna walking at an angle leads to the very attractive Piazza del Duomo, where the most important civil and religious buildings of the city are situated, to begin with the Duomo of Santa Maria Assunta. The collegiate church, which dominates the piazza from the top of a wide stairway, was built in the 11th century in Romanesque style, but underwent the first reconstruction in 1239 and an enlargement in 1460, work of Giuliano da Maiano. The façade (whose orientation was turned upside-down during the modifications in the 1200's) presents an austere appearance without embellishment, in total contrast with the lavishness of the nearby buildings. The interior, divided into three naves overhung by cap vaults, is, instead, characterized by numerous frescoes and important paintings, adjacent the Chapel of Santa Fina, done by Maiano, is a noteworthy example of Tuscan Renaissance, with beautiful 15th-century frescoes by Ghirlandaio.
Next to the Cathedral, in the piazza rise Palazzo del Podestà with the tall Rognosa Tower (52 meters) and Palazzo del Popolo with the majestic Grossa Tower, 54 meters high, which dominates the roofs of the city. Headquarters of the City Hall and the Civic Museum, Palazzo del Popolo (also called Palazzo Nuovo del Podestà) was constructed at the end of the 13th century and widened in the following century. Crowned by Guelph merlons, the façade of the Palazzo is open by elegant walls with lowered arches. Inside stands out the so-called Sala di Dante (Dante Hall), with frescoes by Memmi, Fredi, Gozzoli, and Azzo, which holds the memory of the passage of the "supreme poet" as diplomat, who arrived here to speak in front of the podestà about the necessity to form a Guelph League.
On the north side of Piazza del Duomo, on the other hand, soar the twin Salvucci Towers and open the passageway for the picturesque Via San Matteo, on which there other other monuments from the 13th-14th century