Torre Grossa

---

Torre Grossa
Piazza del Duomo
San Gimignano, September 2021

“Torre Grossa is the tallest tower in San Gimignano, with 54 m (177 ft 2 in). It is one of the best known of Tuscany's medieval towers. It was built in 1310.” (Torre Grossa, Wikipedia)

Torre dei Cugnanesi

---

Torre dei Cugnanesi
Via San Giovanni / Via del Quercecchio
San Gimignano, September 2021

“The very high Cugnanesi Tower is another of the 14 survivors in San Gimignano. It stands in a picturesque little piazza near the walls, at the intersection of Via di San Giovanni and Via del Quercecchio. The tower dates from the 13th century and is one of the tallest in the city. Together with the massive Cugnanesi Palazzo, it comprises part of the structure created to defend the nearby Becci Arch. The arch is the town's gateway to the south and leads to the political and religious centre of the town square, communicating between this little piazza and the Piazza della Cisterna. Palazzo Cugnanesi was built around the same time as the tower. Like many medieval buildings, it had a wooden gallery at the first floor that ran around the entire building. All that remains are the brackets that supported it, clearly visible on the upper level. Atop this strong frame is another palazzo with a very strange shape: it looks like a bastion. In actuality, it was a part of the oldest walls of the city.” (Cugnanesi Tower, ItalyGuides.it)

San Francesco

---

Former church of San Francesco
Via San Giovanni
San Gimignano, September 2021

Santa Maria Assunta

---

Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta
Piazza del Duomo
San Gimignano, September 2021

“The Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta or Duomo di San Gimignano is a Roman Catholic collegiate church and minor basilica in San Gimignano, in Tuscany in central Italy. It contains important cycles of Renaissance frescoes by artists including Domenico Ghirlandaio, Benozzo Gozzoli, Taddeo di Bartolo, Lippo Memmi and Bartolo di Fredi. It falls within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the "Historic Centre of San Gimignano", with its frescoes being described by UNESCO as ‘works of outstanding beauty’.” (Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta, Wikipedia)

Palazzo Comunale

---

Palazzo Comunale (Municipal Palace) and Torre Grossa (Great Tower)
Piazza del Duomo
San Gimignano, September 2021

“The Palazzo Comunale dates from the late 13th century, and was built on the ruins of an existing building between 1289 and 1298. Further expanded in the 14th century, the facade is characterised by arched windows, with the lower half of the frontage built with stone, and the upper part in brick. On the ground floor is a courtyard, which was built in 1323 and is decorated with the coats of arms of those who have held public office in the municipality. The main civic offices of the town council are now located on this ground floor. On the first floor is a stepped gallery from which dignitaries would address the gathered crowd in the square. The battlements date from a restoration of the nineteenth century,[4] and the structure is capped by the ‘Torre Grossa’ (great tower). This tower was completed in 1300 and (at 54 meters) is the highest tower in the walled town.” (Palazzo Comunale, Wikipedia)

Chapel of San Bartolo

---

Marble altar by Benedetto da Maiano
Chapel of San Bartolo
Church of Sant'Agostino
Piazza Sant'Agostino
San Gimignano, September 2021

“The Cappella di San Bartolo houses the remains of the eponymous saint (1228–1300), a lay Franciscan who died of leprosy. The magnificent altar in the chapel is by Benedetto da Maiano.” (Sant'Agostino, Wikipedia)

Church of St Augustine

---

Church of Sant'Agostino
Piazza Sant'Agostino
San Gimignano, September 2021

“The interior is a large hall dominated by the seventeen-panel fresco cycle on The Life of St Augustine around the high altar, painted by Benozzo Gozzoli between 1463 and 1467. The altarpiece is the Coronation of the Virgin by Piero del Pollaiuolo (1483). There are a number of other frescoes in the church.” (Sant'Agostino, Wikipedia)

Madonna in Gloria

---

“Madonna in Gloria” (Madonna in Glory) by Simone Martini, 1310ca (Cenni di Francesco, 1413) Church of San Lorenzo al Ponte
Via Santo Stefano
San Gimignano, September 2021

Torre del Diavolo

---

Torre del Diavolo (Devil's Tower)
Piazza della Cisterna
San Gimignano, September 2021

“The Devil's Tower, one of the 14 remaining medieval towers in San Gimignano, is located on the northernmost side of the Piazza della Cisterna and is part of the Palazzo dei Cortesi. The tower has a mysterious and unsettling name that is tied to a legend. It is said that upon returning from a trip, the owner noticed with great surprise that the tower was taller than when he left it. This miraculous event was immediately attributed to some diabolical intervention, and so the name of the tower became inextricably linked with the Devil. The other tower has a double doorway that suggests that there was an ancient foot path passing through it. Right below the tower is the Vicolo dell'Oro, where you find the workshops of the "hammerers,” the artisans who vigorously beat gold coin to reduce it to incredibly thin gold leaf, which is then used for painted tables. Looking up you can notice that the upper floor of the tower has several holes in the walls. These received the timbers that held the galleries (equivalent to our balconies) that allowed people to walk outside, from one room to another. Importantly, these were also able to be rapidly dismantled in case of danger, in order to prevent enemies from accessing the tower. It is for this same reason that the windows that open on each floor are just narrow slits. This was typical of the Middle Ages, when defence took priority over aesthetics, comfort, and the brightness of the environment. The top floor would have had a gallery that ran around it as well. This too has only a few supports remaining. Perhaps it was their somewhat sinister appearance that helped fuel the legend.” (Tower of the Devil, ItalyGuides.it)

Porta San Jacopo

---

Porta San Jacopo (San Jacopo Gate)
Via Folgore da San Giminiano
San Gimignano, September 2021

Sant'Agostino

---

Church of Sant'Agostino
Piazza Sant'Agostino
San Gimignano, September 2021

“The chiesa di Sant'Agostino (Church of St Augustine) is the second largest church in San Gimignano, Italy, after the Collegiata. It is owned by the Order of Saint Augustine. Sant'Agostino is an imposing 13th century building.” (Sant'Agostino, Wikipedia)

Torri dei Salvucci

---

Torri dei Salvucci
Piazza delle Erbe
San Gimignano, September 2021

“The Torri dei Salvucci, in Piazza del Duomo in San Gimignano are also called the ‘Torri Gemelle.’ They belonged to the most important Ghibelline family in the city, the Salvucci. They had become rich through usury and commerce. Their massive and powerful appearance is no accident: the towers were meant to show the supremacy of the family to the entire city. When they were built, they were taller than the 51 meters of the Rognosa Tower, but after a regulation in 1255 expressly forbade buildings higher than Rognosa, they were lowered. Both towers have a square base and, like all medieval buildings, are designed for defence with very few openings. Even the entrance doors are extremely narrow.” (Two Towers, ItalyGuides.it)

Rocca di Montestaffoli

---

Rocca di Montestaffoli
Parco della Rocca
Via della Rocca
San Gimignano, September 2021

Torre dei Becci

---

Torre dei Becci
Piazza della Cisterna
San Gimignano, September 2021

“Its name comes from a water cistern found at the centre of the site, where an octagonal travertine well forms a pivot point in the piazza. It offers a view out through the straight passageway of Arco dei Becci, one of the gates in the ancient medieval wall. Next to the gate are the charming Torri dei Becci and Torri dei Cugnanesi. Nearer the well are very important buildings: the Palazzo Razzi, with its splendid two-light mullioned windows; Casa Salvestrini, which at one time was a hospital and is now a hotel; and Palazzo Tortoli, which is next to the ‘severed’ tower that belonged to the Capitano del Popolo (it was cut down during struggles between rival families).” (Piazza della Cisterna, ItalyGuides.it)

Torre Rognosa

---

Torre Rognosa (The Devil's Tower)
Vicolo dell'Oro
San Gimignano, September 2021

“The oldest tower is the Torre Rognosa, in Piazza del Duomo. Belonging to the Gregori and later to the Oti family, it was built in 1200 and it is the second highest tower in San Gimignano. The nickname Rognosa was attributed to it because it was used as a prison and therefore for those who had troubles, ‘rogne’ in italian.” (The Rognosa tower, Hotel Casolare)

San Bartolo

---

Church of San Bartolo
Via San Matteo
San Gimignano, September 2021

“Bartolo da San Gimignano (1228 – 12 December 1300) - born Bartolo Buonpedoni - was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member from the Third Order of Saint Francis. Bartolo was born to nobles near Siena and fled home to become a priest to escape his father's wrath. He tended to poor people in the streets and used his income to provide alms to them and to alleviate their suffering while himself contracting a disease from working with the poor and succumbing to that same disease as a result. His beatification received approval from Pope Pius X on 27 April 1910.” (Bartolo da San Gimignano, Wikipedia)

The Martyrdom of St Sebastian

---

“The Martyrdom of St Sebastian” by Benozzo Gozzoli, 1465
Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta
Piazza del Duomo
San Gimignano, September 2021

“On the rear wall of the nave, beneath the Last Judgement is a fresco of the Martyrdom of St Sebastian painted by Benozzo Gozzoli in 1465. The work was commissioned by the people of San Gimignano as the result of a vow that they made to honour the saint, whose intervention was believed to have brought relief from an outbreak of plague in 1464. The painting shows the figure of Christ and the Virgin Mary in Glory, while below, St Sebastian, standing on a Classical plinth and bristling with arrows, suffers martyrdom and is crowned by angels. Benozzo Gozzoli received his training under Lorenzo Ghiberti while working on the Baptistry doors.[19] He fulfilled two other important commissions in San Gimignano. Both were at the Church of Sant' Agostino, a fresco cycle of the life of St Augustine of Hippo executed 1464-65, and another St Sebastian, showing the townsfolk sheltering beneath his cloak.” (Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta, Wikipedia)

Fake Palm-Trees

---

Restaurant
Altstadt
Hamburg, May 2004

Pipe organ

---

Pipe organ
Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta
Piazza del Duomo
San Gimignano, September 2021

“The wall of the left aisle had six decorated bays, of which the paintings of the first bay are in poor condition and those of the sixth have been damaged and in part destroyed by the insertion of the pipe organ. The remaining paintings, with the exception of a repainted panel in the sixth bay, are the work of Bartolo di Fredi, and, according to an inscription, were completed around 1356. The paintings are in three registers and proceed from left to right chronologically in each register.” (Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta, Wikipedia)

Duomo di San Gimignano

---

Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta
Piazza del Duomo
San Gimignano, September 2021

“The Collegiate Church stands on the west side of Piazza del Duomo, so named although the church has never been the seat of a bishop. The church has an east-facing facade, and chancel to the west, as at St Peter's Basilica. The architecture is 12th and 13th century Romanesque with the exception of the two chapels in the Renaissance style. The facade, which has little ornament, is approached from the square by a wide staircase and has a door into each of the side aisles, but no central portal. The doorways are surmounted by stone lintels with recessed arches above them, unusual in incorporating the stone Gabbro. There is a central ocular window at the end of the nave and a smaller one giving light to each aisle. The facade, which is stone, was raised higher in brick in 1340, when the ribbed vaulting was constructed, and the two smaller ocular windows set in. Matteo di Brunisend is generally credited as the main architect of the medieval period, with his date of activity given as 1239, but in fact his contribution may have been little more than the design of the central ocular window. Beneath this window is a slot which marks the place of a window which lit the chancel of the earlier church, and may be the most visible sign of the church's reorientation in the 12th century rebuilding, although this is not entirely agreed upon by scholars.” (Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta, Wikipedia)

Iridescenze

---

“Iridescenze” (Iridescences) rose window by Marcello Aitiani, 2003
Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta
Piazza del Duomo
San Gimignano, September 2021

Torre Chigi

---

Torre Chigi and Palazzo vecchio del Podestà
Piazza del Duomo
San Gimignano, September 2021

“Located in the heart of the village San Gimignano (UNESCO Heritage) lies a complex tower that holds three hundred residences, incorporates one of the medieval tower internationally famous. Already the famous Useppi family, which later became the property of the family Chigi Saracini. The Chigi Tower is one of the fourteen historic towers of San Gimignano and is located in Piazza del Duomo. The tower, although not very high, is one of the most beautiful in the city. It was built in 1280 and belonged to both the Useppi and Chigi family. The first three floors are covered with stone, well squared cut drafts, which open on the lights with low arches. On the first floor there is a typical portal which is accessed by stairs, the legacy of the struggles of the times of medieval towns, when they preferred to sleep secure building access by withdrawing the first floor stairs at night. On the second floor window is a narrow elongated slot with a bow resting on shelves. The top is covered with bricks instead of two single windows on the same first two floors, while the latter has no openings.” (Historical Palace and tower, Torre Chigi)

Torri degli Ardinghelli

---

Torri degli Ardinghelli
Piazza della Cisterna
San Gimignano, September 2021

“The Salvucci's bitterest enemies were the Ardinghelli, Guelfs who traded with Lombardy and the Orient. To compete with the rival family, they built two twin towers similar to the Salvucci's, right on the opposite side of the piazza. The two Torri degli Ardinghelli also had square bases, but they weren't really ‘twins.’ The tower on the right is a bit straighter and has a more austere, ‘medieval’ look, with truly narrow openings. The other is larger and more imposing and has much larger windows.” (Two Towers, ItalyGuides.it)