Famous as the 'Town of Fine Towers', San Gimignano rises from the Tuscan hills with its skyline of medieval stone tower-houses, fourteen of which survive of the seventy-odd once built by rival noble families. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the town prospered precisely because it sat on the Via Francigena, growing rich on the trade and pilgrim traffic flowing toward Rome. Its frescoed Collegiata and the Piazza della Cisterna preserve the atmosphere of a perfectly intact medieval town.
Highlights
- Fourteen medieval towers surviving of the seventy once raised by rival clans
- Legend of St Geminianus shrouding the town in a protecting mist
- A skyline like a stone Manhattan floating over the Tuscan hills
- Wealth from saffron, banking and the passing pilgrim trade
- Overnight stays for dusk and dawn towers, plus Vernaccia wine tasting
At a glance
| Period | Medieval (12th–14th century) |
|---|---|
| Stage | 14 — Laon to Corbeny |
Take care
- Steep, narrow climb up the Torre Grossa
- Lanes are crowded in high season
- Open piazzas bake in summer — carry water and a hat
History
San Gimignano freed itself from the Bishop of Volterra in 1199 and flourished as a free commune, growing rich on saffron, banking and the passing trade of the road to Rome. The 13th century brought both the great towers and bitter feuding between the Ardinghelli and Salvucci clans. The plague of 1348 shattered the town's economy, and in 1353 it submitted to Florence; centuries of quiet stagnation followed, preserving the medieval townscape almost untouched until UNESCO inscribed it in 1990.
Myth & legend
The town takes its name from St Geminianus, a bishop of Modena said to have miraculously saved the settlement from the army of Attila the Hun by shrouding it in a protecting mist. Grateful townsfolk dedicated their walled town to him.
Geology
San Gimignano's ridge is Pliocene sea floor: yellow sands over deeper blue-grey clays, deposited when a marine gulf covered these valleys a few million years ago, and now the free-draining soils of the Vernaccia vineyards. Since the soft hill offers no building stone, the towers were raised in travertine and cavernous limestone carted from outcrops in the Elsa valley.
Wildlife & nature
Vernaccia vineyards, olive terraces and dark cypress ring the town, with swifts round the towers in summer and hoopoes, green woodpeckers and buzzards over the groves. West at the Castelvecchio reserve, Turkey oak, downy oak and holm oak woods hold wild boar, roe deer and fallow deer, and peregrines winter on the rocky walls.
The view
Fourteen medieval towers break the skyline above rolling vineyards; from the ridgeline approaches the town appears like a stone Manhattan floating over the Tuscan hills.
Photography
Photograph the skyline from the route north of town near sunset, climb the Torre Grossa for rooftop panoramas, and work the lamplit lanes after the day coaches leave.
When to visit
May, June and late September balance light and heat; July and August bring intense sun and heavy day-tripper crowds, so walk in early and enjoy the quiet evenings.
Getting there
No railway reaches the hilltop: buses connect via Poggibonsi, the nearest station, while walkers arrive on the Via Francigena stage from Gambassi Terme.
Where to stay
The Vallombrosan nuns of Monastero San Girolamo keep a foresteria for credential-holding pilgrims, and the town and vineyards outside offer hotels and agriturismi.
Food & water
Fountains in town and bars around the two piazzas cover the stop itself; carry generous water on the exposed ridgeline stages in and out, which offer little shade.
Safety
The Torre Grossa climb is steep and narrow, lanes are crowded in season, and the open piazzas bake in summer — water and a hat help. In an emergency dial 112.
Accessibility
Streets climb steadily on smooth stone from the gates to the central piazzas; the Torre Grossa involves a long stair climb, and some lanes are steep though step-free.
Visitor tips
Stay the night: the towers at dusk and dawn belong to residents and pilgrims alone; stamp the credential at the Collegiata or tourist office and taste the Vernaccia wine.
The guide, in full
The written guide to this site.
Long before you arrive, San Gimignano announces itself. From miles away across the vineyards you see them: a cluster of grey stone towers rising from a Tuscan hilltop like a medieval Manhattan. Fourteen survive today of the seventy or so that once stood here, raised in the twelve and thirteen hundreds by rival merchant families who competed, quite literally, to outdo the neighbours; a taller tower meant a richer family, and the skyline became a stone ledger of ambition. This little city owes everything to the road you are walking. The Via Francigena runs straight through its heart, and Archbishop Sigeric himself rested here on his journey in the year nine hundred and ninety, recording the town as Sancte Gemiane. The pilgrims, merchants and mule trains that followed made San Gimignano rich, and it grew richer still on two precious local products: saffron, the golden spice gathered from crocus flowers and traded far beyond Italy, and Vernaccia, a crisp white wine so celebrated that it earns a mention in Dante. Enter through the southern gate and follow the main street as centuries of travellers have done, until it delivers you into the Piazza della Cisterna, one of the loveliest squares in Italy. It is a gentle triangle paved in herringbone brick, sloping towards the octagonal wellhead at its centre, built in twelve thirty-seven to gather rainwater for the town. Run your hand along the well's stone rim and find the deep grooves worn by ropes hauling up buckets over the centuries. A few steps on lies the Piazza del Duomo and the Collegiata, the town's great church. Its plain facade hides an interior painted from floor to ceiling: an Old Testament wall and a New Testament wall face each other across the nave, a complete picture Bible for pilgrims who could not read, while Taddeo di Bartolo's vivid Last Judgement delivers its eternal warning. In the small chapel of Santa Fina, glowing with frescoes by Ghirlandaio, the town honours a devout local girl; legend says that at her passing the towers burst into bloom with white violets, and wallflowers still blossom on the old stones each spring. Beside the church rises the Torre Grossa, the big tower, completed in thirteen eleven and standing fifty-four metres high, the tallest in town and the one you can climb; from the top all of central Tuscany unrolls beneath you, vine rows, olive terraces, and the road south shimmering towards Siena. The town takes its name from Geminianus, a bishop of Modena who, the story goes, saved the settlement from Attila's army by wrapping it in a miraculous mist, and the grateful townsfolk dedicated their walls to him. Perhaps something of that protecting mist lingers, because San Gimignano has come down to us almost perfectly intact, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where you walk the same paving as your medieval predecessors. Take your time here. Sit on the warm stone of the piazza, taste a glass of Vernaccia or a saffron biscuit, and watch the swifts wheel between the towers. Then shoulder your pack and slip out through the gate. The towers will watch you go, as they have watched pilgrims go for a thousand years.
Common questions
How old is San Gimignano?
San Gimignano dates from the Medieval (12th–14th century) period.
How do I get to San Gimignano?
No railway reaches the hilltop: buses connect via Poggibonsi, the nearest station, while walkers arrive on the Via Francigena stage from Gambassi Terme.
Is San Gimignano accessible?
Streets climb steadily on smooth stone from the gates to the central piazzas; the Torre Grossa involves a long stair climb, and some lanes are steep though step-free.
When is the best time to visit San Gimignano?
May, June and late September balance light and heat; July and August bring intense sun and heavy day-tripper crowds, so walk in early and enjoy the quiet evenings.
Is there food and water at San Gimignano?
Fountains in town and bars around the two piazzas cover the stop itself; carry generous water on the exposed ridgeline stages in and out, which offer little shade.
Where can I stay near San Gimignano?
The Vallombrosan nuns of Monastero San Girolamo keep a foresteria for credential-holding pilgrims, and the town and vineyards outside offer hotels and agriturismi.
What should I know before visiting San Gimignano?
Stay the night: the towers at dusk and dawn belong to residents and pilgrims alone; stamp the credential at the Collegiata or tourist office and taste the Vernaccia wine.
Is San Gimignano safe to visit?
The Torre Grossa climb is steep and narrow, lanes are crowded in season, and the open piazzas bake in summer — water and a hat help. In an emergency dial 112.
Nearby on the route
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