Historic Centre of San Gimignano

The origin of this little town located in a territory of Etruscan settlements is still uncertain today. Tradition tells about two patrician young men, accomplices of Catiline, who took refuge in the Valdelsa area to escape punishment in Rome and thus founded two settlements; one of these, Silva, originated San Gimignano. But the true history seems to be different, since the finding of some Hellenistic tombs would date the birth of this town in that period. The elevated position on a hill makes San Gimignano a strategic point that dominates the surrounding valley. According to the legend, the name of the city derives from the name of the bishop of Modena who defended the village from Attila’s army with a miracle (but Attila lived many years after the death of the saint!). The city started to grow during the Middle Ages, with the first documentary evidence appearing in 929, and became an important centre along the Via Francigena, the road used by pilgrims to reach Rome from central Europe. Initially a feud of the Bishop of Volterra, San Gimignano set up as a free Commune in 1199. In spite of harsh political struggles, the centuries of the late Middle Ages were a flourishing period for the city: the production of Greek wine and of the famous Vernaccia, the trade of fabrics, the practice of lending money at very high interest rates, agricultural activities and saffron crops transformed this town into one of the richest centres of Tuscany. But this grandiose period did not last for long; the plague of the first decades of the fourteenth century exterminated one third of its citizens and the growing power of Florence condemned San Gimignano to a slow decay. Although this sudden loss of significance led to the destruction or deterioration of many buildings and towers, the historic centre of the Commune has been preserved till today. Only a few small architectural changes were made to the town after the fourteenth century.

Only 14 of the 72 fourteenth-century towers have remained today, and they are the symbol of the city. The towers, that were erected starting from the tenth century, are the emblem of the wealthiest local families because of the huge capitals that were needed to build them. Each family had one and the increase in their numbers proves the great growth of San Gimignano throughout the Middle Ages and the continuous confrontation and rivalry between the most well-off families. These tall buildings, together with the new city walls and the large gates, were the symbols of a wealthy and definitely well-established city in the regional scenario. The towers, which were primarily built for dwelling purposes, initially had a very solid and spartan architecture, with thick walls to ensure heat insulation, very few openings, internal partitions designed to protect its dwellers from the risk of fires, and kitchens always at the top floor. It was only between the twelfth and the thirteenth century that the Pisan construction model was adopted, with the creation of larger openings and wooden balconies that considerably expanded the internal space.

During the thirteenth century, palatial structures were built beside towers. Bricks were extensively used again, thus permitting the partial or total abandonment of the more expensive stone. Both the wealthiest members of society and the representatives of Communal power dedicated to the construction of many palaces inspired to the various traditions that were developing in the major cities of Tuscany (Florence, Pisa, Lucca and Siena). The Palazzo Comunale (Town Hall or Municipal Palace), built as headquarters of the Podestà, houses a collection of paintings by Pinturicchio, Filippo Lippi, Pier Francesco Fiorentino, Benozzo Gozzoli and the magnificent “Maestà” (Majesty) by Lippo Memmi. Like lay architectures, churches played an important role in the Middle Ages. The Cathedral, a valuable example of Tuscan Romanesque, has a collection of extremely worthy works in its interior. Throughout the centuries, it was enriched by the genius of some of the greatest artists of the time: Benozzo Gozzoli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Bartolo di Fredi, Jacopo della Quercia and Taddeo di Bartolo. A collection of frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli and Benedetto da Maiano, as well as works by Pollaiolo, Pier Francesco Fiorentino and Sebastiano Mainardi, are stored in the Church of Saint Augustine. But the entire hill is dotted with marvellous places of worship, almost all dating back to the Middle Ages. After the centuries of decadence, this rich artistic and architectural heritage became the keystone of the restitution of the beauty of San Gimignano to the world. The rediscovery of the city began in the late nineteenth century, in the excitement of the Communal period that accompanied the process that was leading to Unity. Declared a national monument in 1929, San Gimignano today is universally recognised and studied as one of the most beautiful jewels of Tuscany.

The history of places is not only made by men. The Vernaccia, just like the towers, is another primary symbol of San Gimignano. Known since the thirteenth century and celebrated by local poets like Folgòre, thetypical white wine from San Gimignano has been on the tables of rulers, popes and artists for centuries. Appreciated in Italy and in Europe by the greatest intellectuals of the Middle Ages (Dante, Boccaccio, Cecco Angiolieri, Jofroi de Waterford and Servais Copale, translators of the Segré des segrez, and Geoffrey Chaucer praised it in their works), the Vernaccia became a flagship product of the local economy. During the Renaissance, it was on the tables of the most important Italian courts. Ludovico Il Moro (“the Moor”) claimed 200 barrels of Vernaccia from the city “to wet” the marriage of a member of the Visconti family with Isabel of Naples. The passion for this wine further between the sixteenth and seventeenth century, when its production remained one of the few strengths of a decaying San Gimignano. When taste changed and new beverages were introduced after the great geographical explorations, the Vernaccia lost part of its charm and almost disappeared from the vineyards of the area. We must thank Carlo Fregola, agronomist who worked in Tuscany in the thirties of the twentieth century, if the grape variety, which had become rare and scattered in the mixed farming countryside around the city, was saved from extinction. In the post-World War II period defined as ‘economic boom’, the Vernaccia was reimplanted according to specialised wine-making methods. Its production has been continuously growing in quantity and quality since the sixties, and the DOCG designation (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita, controlled and guaranteed designation of origin) arrived in 1993.

The Palazzo Comunale, also called the Town Hall or Municipal Palace, erected in the late thirteenth century on the remains of an older building, immediately became the headquarters of the local ruler, the Podestà. To ensure transparency, the highest official of the Commune was always selected among non-local citizens. The Public Council also met in the rooms of the Municipal Palace, which were expanded during the fourteenth century. When it lost its political and administrative role, the palace became the seat of the Civic Museum of San Gimignano. The Sala del Consiglio (Council Chambers), at the first floor, was dedicated to Dante Alighieri, in memory of his visit as Ambassador of the Guelph League (1299). The important meeting place was embellished with frescoes towards the end of the thirteenth century, with chivalry and hunting scenes painted by the Florentine Azzo di Masetto. In 1317, Lippo Memmi, a painter of the Sienese School of Simone Martini, added the work called Maestà (Majesty). More frescoes on moral subjects were attributed to the father of Lippo, Memmo di Filippuccio. The rich Pinacoteca (Picture Gallery) contains works that testify the greatness reached by San Gimignano in the late Middle Ages: Coppo di Marcovaldo, Rinaldo, Benozzo Gozzoli, Benedetto da Maiano, Filippo Lippi and Pinturicchio are only a few of the many great artists that can be admired in these spaces. In the courtyard, in addition to a sixteenth-century painting of Sodoma, there is the original bell of 1328.

The Municipal Palace was not the first residence of the Podestà; in fact, the highest office of the Commune had its seat in the Palazzo Vecchio (“Old Palace”) before its construction. Built in the eleventh century, the complex was restored in the thirteenth century, before losing its role to the new Municipal Palace. Transformed into a theatre in the course of the sixteenth century, it became famous for its big tower, the Rognosa, which first belonged to the Gregori and Oti families, and took this name later, when it was transformed into a prison and was therefore used by people “in trouble” (“rognoso” means “troublesome”). The tower is made of rough-hewed stone blocks on a square base and, with its 52 metres of height, it became the term of comparison for the other towers of San Gimignano. Although a law passed in 1255 established its summit as the maximum legal limit for new towers, this did not prevent some noble families, such as the Ardinghelli’s and the Salvucci’s, from building taller buildings. However, the Rognosa has preserved its role of “queen of the city of fine towers” till today.

Trained at the school of Beato Angelico, according to Vasari, Benozzo soon became one of the most important painters of the Tuscan fifteenth century. He first worked with his master and then cooperated with Lorenzo Ghiberti and his son Vittorio at the decoration of the Porta del Paradiso (Gate of Paradise) of the Baptistery of Florence. He continued this collaboration with Beato Angelico until 1449, being involved in important job orders at the Vatican. Then, for about a decade, he moved to the region Umbria, to eventually go back to Florence, where he would paint for the Medici family. At a more mature age, in 1467, he was called in San Gimignano and painted the wonderful Vita di Sant’Agostino (Life of Saint Augustine) and two imaged of Saint Sebastian, and also dedicated to the restoration of Memmi’s Maestà. After a few more years of work in Pisa and then in Pistoia, he died in Florence in 1497. A painter with a special capacity to observe, who studied perspective and reproduced reality in great detail, Benozzo became one of the most appreciated and required artists of his time. One of his most renowned achievements was the reproduction of fabrics of all kinds and colours with great realism – probably because his father had been a tailor.

We do not know much of the life of Iacopo di Michele, also known as Folgòre. He was a combatant before being a poet, serving the Guelph party in his town in the first years of the fourteenth century, and was ordained knight. His honorific nickname, Folgòre, already known in 1295, tells us that Iacopo had already become rather famous at that date. He probably combined his military role with that of courtly poet or troubadour, the typical figures of Italian culture between the thirteenth and the fourteenth century. Folgòre’s poems reflect the wealth and light-heartedness of the bourgeois city life that made San Gimignano a great place to live in thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Poems of chivalry, comedy, praise of the pleasures of life, and a revival of the plazer of the Provençal tradition: in his texts, cheerfulness and delight were opposed to sadness and boredom to make Folgòre an emblematic example of the cultural sentiment of the time.

Born in San Gimignano from a noble family, he started his career as an intellectual in Rome, where he met Pomponius Laetus (1428-1498), with whom he founded the Accademia Romana (Roman Academy). In the clique of intellectuals chaired by Laetus, devotion to classical culture was accompanied by a peculiar project of restoration of Pagan cults. When a conspiracy against him was discovered in 1468, Paul II dissolved the Academy, and tortured and imprisoned many of its members. To avoid being killed, Buonaccorsi flew towards Eastern Europe. When he reached Poland, he worked indefatigably for its rulers and became a prolific and renowned intellectual in fifteenth-century Europe. As representative of the Polish Kingdom, he took part in embassies and conferences, becoming a prominent figure in his adoptive country. His literary and intellectual production, initially characterised by a marked classicism inspired to Martial, later moved towards philosophical themes that brought him to quarrel with the great Tuscan humanist Marsilius Ficinus (1433-1499). The presence of Buonaccorsi and the role he managed to cut out for himself at the court of Krakow contributed significantly to the spreading of Humanism in Poland.

“[…] In un posto come questo ci si sente veramente nel cuore delle cose, e lontano dalla pista battuta. Affacciandomi ogni mattina ad una finestra gotica, mi sembra impossibile che il Medioevo sia tramontato.”

Edward M. Forster, Monteriano (1905)

“He drinkkith ypocras, clarre, and vernage / of spices hote, to encrese his corrage.” 

Geoffrey  Chaucer, Il racconto del mercante da I racconti di Canterbury (XIV secolo)

“E poi tornare a casa e dire al cuoco: | “To’ queste cose e acconcia per dimane, | e pela, taglia, assetta e metti a’ fuoco; || ed abbie fino vino e bianco pane, | ch’e’ s’apparecchia di far festa e giuoco: | fa che le tue cucine non sian vane!” 

Iacopo di Michele detto Folgòre da San Gimignano, Sonetto del Sabato (XIV secolo)

The greatness of Siena, perpetually fighting with Florence, is simultaneous with that of San Gimignano. Its Gothic look, still evident in its historic centre, its towers, its noble buildings and its great Municipal Palace, has become an example and a model for the nearby territories. Some of the first artists that would contribute to the rising power of San Gimignano were from the Sienese school of Simone Martini. The two historic centres represent the excellence of the great Tuscan  Middle Ages in the world.

If the connection with Siena was strong, that with the main city of the region was even stronger. San Gimignano would end up by yielding and submitting to the power of Florence. While the end of the freedom of Communes and the advent of the powerful seigniory of the Medici did not bring about great changes in the layout of the city, it favoured the arrival of some of the greatest artists that frequented the Florentine court. Benozzo Gozzoli, one of the major artists of the Renaissance, worked in San Gimignano for three years and gave some of his best productions to the city. The architectural style of the late Middle Ages in Florence inspired a constant renewal of the buildings of San Gimignano between the thirteenth and the fourteenth century.

San Gimignano owes part of its wealth to Pisa; in fact, it was built along the branch that reached the coastal city from the Via Francigena, thus permitting its users to reach the Western Mediterranean Sea. The town of the Leaning Tower played a fundamental role in the promotion and spreading of the dwelling and art models that would become trend-setters in the entire region and would be copied in San Gimignano by the rich tower builders.

Carli, J. V. Imberciadori, San Gimignano, Electa, Milano, 1987

AA.VV., San Gimignano: provincia di Siena, Regione Toscana, Firenze, 1990

AA.VV., Il Museo Civico di San Gimignano, Giunti, Firenze, 1992

L. Giomi, L’istinto e la ragione di Filippo Buonaccorsi, italiano in Polonia, Nencini, Poggibonsi, 1994

Benozzo Gozzoli in Toscana, a cura di A. Padoa Rizzo, Octavo, Firenze, 1997

P. Grassi, San Gimignano: il centro storico, Libreria dello Stato – Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Roma, 2002

C. Acidini Luchinat, Benozzo Gozzoli, Antella, Firenze, 2007

Il giuoco della vita bella: Folgore da San Gimignano, studi e testi, a c. di M. Picone, Città di San Gimignano, San Gimignano, 2009

San Gimignano: Musei civici: Palazzo comunale, Pinacoteca, Torre Grossa, a cura di A. Mennucci, Silvana, Cinisello Balsamo, 2010

AA.VV., Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Cambi, Poggibonsi, 2012

whc.unesco.org/en/list/550

www.unesco.beniculturali.it

www.comune.sangimignano.si.it/it

www.sangimignano.com/

www.sangimignanomusei.it/

The origin of this little town located in a territory of Etruscan settlements is still uncertain today. The city started to grow during the Middle Ages, with the first documentary evidence appearing in 929, and became an important centre along the Via Francigena that led pilgrims from central Europe to Rome. Initially a feud of the Bishop of Volterra, San Gimignano set up as a free Commune in 1199. In spite of harsh political struggles, the centuries of the late Middle Ages were a flourishing period for the city: the production of Greek wine and of the famous Vernaccia, the trade of fabrics, the practice of lending money, agricultural activities and saffron growing transformed this town into one of the richest centres of Tuscany. But this grandiose period did not last for long; the plague of the first decades of the fourteenth century exterminated one third of its citizens and the growing power of Florence condemned San Gimignano to a slow decay. Although this sudden loss of significance led to the destruction or deterioration of many buildings and towers, the historic centre of the Commune has been preserved till today. Only a few small architectural changes were made to the town after the fourteenth century.

Only 14 of the 72 fourteenth-century towers have remained today, and they are the symbol of the city. The towers, that were erected starting from the tenth century, are the emblem of the wealthiest local families because of the huge capitals that were needed to build them. The increasing numbers of towers proves the great growth of San Gimignano throughout the Middle Ages and the continuous confrontation and rivalry between the most well-off families. These tall buildings, together with the new city walls and the large gates, were the symbols of a wealthy and definitely well-established city in the regional scenario. The towers, which were primarily built for dwelling purposes, initially had a very solid and spartan architecture, with thick walls to ensure heat insulation, very few openings, internal partitions designed to protect its dwellers from the risk of fires, and kitchens always at the top floor. Solo It was only between the twelfth and the thirteenth century that the Pisan construction model was adopted, with the creation of larger openings and wooden balconies that considerably expanded the internal space.

During the thirteenth century, palatial structures were built beside towers. Bricks were extensively used again, thus permitting the partial or total abandonment of the more expensive stone. Both the wealthiest members of society and the representatives of Communal power dedicated to the construction of many palaces inspired to the various traditions that were developing in the major cities of Tuscany (Florence, Pisa, Lucca and Siena). Like lay architectures, churches played an important role in the medieval San Gimignano. The Cathedral, a valuable example of Tuscan Romanesque, has a collection of extremely worthy works in its interior. Throughout the decades, many different artists painted for this church: Benozzo Gozzoli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Bartolo di Fredi, Jacopo della Quercia and Taddeo di Bartolo. The Church of Saint Augustine preserves many frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli and Benedetto da Maiano, as well as workd by Pollaiolo, Pier Francesco Fiorentino and Sebastiano Mainardi. After the centuries of decadence, this rich artistic and architectural heritage became the keystone of the restitution of the beauty of San Gimignano to the world. The rediscovery of the city began in the late nineteenth century, in the excitement of the Communal period that followed the years of the unification of Italy (1861). Declared a national monument in 1929, San Gimignano today is studied as one of the most beautiful jewels of Tuscany.

The history of places is not only made by men. The Vernaccia, the typical white wine of San Gimignano, was on the tables of rulers, popes and artists for centuries, being the symbol of the city. Known since the thirteenth century, praised by local poets, like Folgòre, loved in Italy and in Europe by the greatest intellectuals of the Middle Ages, the Vernaccia became a flagship product of the town’s economy. During the Renaissance, it was on the tables of the most important Italian courts. Ludovico Il Moro (“the Moor”) claimed 200 barrels of Vernaccia from the city “to wet” the marriage of a member of the Visconti family with Isabel of Naples. The passion for this wine further between the sixteenth and seventeenth century, when its production remained one of the few strengths of a decaying San Gimignano. When taste changed and new beverages were introduced after the great geographical explorations, the Vernaccia lost part of its charm and almost disappeared from the vineyards of the area. We must thank Carlo Fregola, agronomist who worked in Tuscany in the thirties of the twentieth century, if the grape variety, which had become rare and scattered in the mixed farming countryside around the city, was saved from extinction. In the post-World War II period defined as ‘economic boom’, the Vernaccia was reimplanted according to specialised wine-making methods. Its production has been continuously growing in quantity and quality since the sixties, and the DOCG designation (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita, controlled and guaranteed designation of origin) arrived in 1993.

The Palazzo Comunale, also called the Town Hall or Municipal Palace, erected in the late thirteenth century on the remains of an older building, immediately became the headquarters of the local ruler, the Podestà. To ensure impartiality, the highest official of the Commune was always selected among non-local citizens. The Public Council also met in the rooms of the Municipal Palace, which were expanded during the fourteenth century. The Sala del Consiglio (Council Chambers), at the first floor, was dedicated to Dante Alighieri, in memory of his visit as Ambassador of the Guelph League (1299). The important meeting place was embellished with frescoes towards the end of the thirteenth century, with chivalry and hunting scenes painted by the Florentine Azzo di Masetto. In 1317, Lippo Memmi, a painter of the Sienese School of Simone Martini, added the work called Maestà (Majesty). More frescoes on moral subjects were attributed to the father of Lippo, Memmo di Filippuccio. In the courtyard, in addition to a sixteenth-century painting of Sodoma, there is the original bell of 1328.

The Municipal Palace was not the first residence of the Podestà; in fact, the highest office of the Commune had its seat in the Palazzo Vecchio (“Old Palace”) before its construction. Built in the eleventh century, the complex was restored in the thirteenth century, before losing its role to the new Municipal Palace. Transformed into a theatre in the course of the sixteenth century, it became famous for its big tower, the Rognosa, which first belonged to the Gregori and Oti families, and took this name later, when it was transformed into a prison and was therefore used by people “in trouble” (“rognoso” = “troublesome”). The tower is made of rough-hewed stone blocks on a square base and, with its 52 metres of height, it became the term of comparison for the other towers of San Gimignano: in 1255 its summit became the maximum legal limit permitted for new towers. But the laws did not prevent some noble families, such as the Ardinghelli’s and the Salvucci’s, to build even taller buildings. However, the Rognosa has preserved its role of “queen of the city of fine towers” till today.

Trained at the school of Beato Angelico, Benozzo soon became one of the most important painters of the Tuscan fifteenth century. He first worked with his master and then cooperated with Lorenzo Ghiberti and his son Vittorio at the decoration of the Porta del Paradiso (Gate of Paradise) of the Baptistery of Florence. Continua He continued this collaboration with Beato Angelico until 1449, being involved in important job orders at the Vatican. He then moved to Umbria for about a decade, to eventually go back to Florence, where he would paint for the Medici’s. At a more mature age, in 1467, he was called in San Gimignano and painted the wonderful Vita di Sant’Agostino (Life of Saint Augustine) and two imaged of Saint Sebastian, and also dedicated to the restoration of Memmi’s Maestà. After a few more years of work in Pisa and then in Pistoia, he died in Florence in 1497. A painter with a special capacity to observe, who studied perspective and reproduced reality in great detail, Benozzo became one of the most appreciated and required artists of his time. One of his most renowned achievements was the reproduction of fabrics of all kinds and colours with great realism – probably because his father had been a tailor.

We do not know much of the life of Iacopo di Michele, also known as Folgòre. He was a combatant before being a poet, serving the Guelph party in his town in the first years of the fourteenth century, and was ordained knight. His honorific nickname, Folgòre, already known in 1295, tells us that Iacopo had already become rather famous at that date. He probably combined his military role with that of courtly poet or troubadour, the typical figures of Italian culture between the thirteenth and the fourteenth century. Folgòre’s poems reflect the wealth and light-heartedness of the bourgeois city life that made San Gimignano a great place to live in thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Poems of chivalry, comedy, praise of the pleasures of life, and a revival of the plazer of the Provençal tradition: in his texts, cheerfulness and delight were opposed to sadness and boredom to make Folgòre an emblematic example of the cultural sentiment of the time.

Born in San Gimignano from a noble family, he started his career as an intellectual and a man of letters in Rome, where he met Pomponius Laetus (1428-1498), with whom he founded the Roman Academy. In the coterie of intellectuals chaired by Laetus, devotion to classical culture was accompanied by a peculiar project of restoration of Pagan cults. When a conspiracy against him was discovered in 1468, Paul II dissolved the Academy, and tortured and imprisoned many of its members. To avoid being killed, Buonaccorsi flew towards Eastern Europe. When he reached Poland, he worked indefatigably for its rulers and became a prolific and renowned intellectual in fifteenth-century Europe. As representative of the Polish Kingdom, he took part in embassies and conferences, becoming a prominent figure in his adoptive country. The presence of Buonaccorsi and the role he managed to cut out for himself at the court of Krakow contributed significantly to the spreading of Humanism in Poland.

The greatness of Siena, perpetually fighting with Florence, is simultaneous with that of San Gimignano. Its Gothic look, still evident in its historic centre, its towers, its noble buildings and its great Municipal Palace, has become an example and a model for the nearby territories. Some of the first artists that would contribute to the rising power of San Gimignano were from the Sienese school of Simone Martini. The two historic centres represent the excellence of the great Tuscan  Middle Ages in the world.

If the connection with Siena was strong, that with the main city of the region was even stronger. San Gimignano would end up by yielding and submitting to the power of Florence. While the end of the freedom of Communes and the advent of the powerful seigniory of the Medici did not bring about great changes in the layout of the city, it favoured the arrival of some of the greatest artists that frequented the Florentine court. Benozzo Gozzoli, one of the major artists of the Renaissance, worked in San Gimignano for three years and gave some of his best productions to the city. The architectural style of the late Middle Ages in Florence inspired a constant renewal of the buildings of San Gimignano between the thirteenth and the fourteenth century.

San Gimignano owes part of its wealth to Pisa; in fact, it was built along the branch that reached the coastal city from the Via Francigena, thus permitting its users to reach the Western Mediterranean Sea. The town of the Leaning Tower played a fundamental role in the promotion and spreading of the dwelling and art models that would become trend-setters in the entire region and would be copied in San Gimignano by the rich tower builders.

Spartan, adj.: typical of the Greek city of Sparta, that was a protagonist in ancient times. The term has taken on the meaning of rigorous, dry, with no frills, because Sparta was known for the severity of its habits and for the austere lifestyle of its citizens.

Balcony, noun (in It. “ballatoio”): an external terrace or an internal landing.

Cooperation, noun: a link, a union of mutual benefit and sharing; a cultural, religious, political, sports association (or brotherhood or congregation).

Troubadour, noun: a wandering poet and musician in medieval Provence. A singer, a bard.

Clique, noun: small exclusive group of intellectuals or artists who meet because they share the same interests or ideas. The Italian word “cenacolo” used in the Italian version of this text also indicates the place where these people meet, which may also be a “refectory”, the place of Christ’s last supper.

Mixed farming –  a system of farming which involves the growing of different kinds of crops.

Gentilitial towers – towers built by the most important families to demonstrate their high social status.

Palatial, adj.: relative to the ‘palace’, with the function of centre of political, economic and military power.