Aug 23 2010

San Gimignano

Published by at 3:59 pm under Italy,Tuscany/Umbria

Since we are here in Tuscany for a week, our typical plan is to visit a different historic hill town each day. On Sunday, we visited Volterra which was one of our favorites in 2008 but this time was made a little more difficult because they were holding a week-long festival. This made the town very crowded and kept some of the most interesting areas (the central piazza) inaccessible unless you were willing to pay for an expensive ticket. Still, there were plenty of beautiful things to see and we enjoyed walking around the town.

On Monday, we visited San Gimignano, about two miles from our villa. San Gimignano is one of the more famous hill towns because it is quite scenic. Many hill towns still have a medieval tower or two but San Gimignano has the most remaining (13 or so). It is sometimes called the Manhattan of Tuscany due to its skyline. We walked up and down the main streets, explored some smaller side streets, and climbed one of the towers that is still open to the public for some great views.

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San Gimignano at sunrise

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The view from the top of a tower. San Gimignano’s central piazza with the Tuscan countryside sprawling in the background.

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People walking past a cafe in the central piazza.

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The two of us on top of the tower.

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A view down on to Piazza della Cisterna, one of San Gimignano’s other large squares.

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Meredith begins her harrowing descent from the tower (don’t worry – she made it back to solid ground).

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San Gimignano at sunrise with the full moon behind it.

 

— Dave

2 responses so far

2 Responses to “San Gimignano”

  1. Foxy says:

    San Gimignano is where Keira had her first ice cream — right in the main piazza. Great memories!

    If I might humbly recommend a visit to Castello di Volpaia – population about 200 so a classic tiny hill town. Superb restaurant attached to the winery. Of course the town is our namesake but it’s well worth a visit regardless!

    Also there is a great wine tasting “warehouse” in Greve in Chianti, can’t remember if you guys had been there. Literally hundreds of wines dispensed from automated machines for 1 Euro or more a taste.

    Ian

  2. Lynne says:

    Mer — totally dig that hat! wow! killer look for you 🙂