The mediaeval towers of San Gimignano – Aiming high in Tuscany

Suddenly, we can see the town from the bus window. Beyond some hills in the distance, skyscrapers are rising over the idyllic countryside! The mediaeval towers of San Gimignano in Tuscany are the highest buildings far and wide. And since the town of San Gimignano stands on a hill, they are visible from all the ridges and hills around.

Our bus, however, is not heading towards San Gimignano. We are travelling Tuscany on public transport and are beginning to understand why nobody else is. What looks like a couple of buses a day on a first glance at the timetable turns out to be even less. Little numbers next to the departure time indicate “Only on school days”, or “only on Saturdays during school holidays”.

On a Sunday, our best option travelling from Volterra to San Gimignano – about 20 km as the crow flies – would have taken more than 3 hours and 4 connecting buses and trains in a huge circle.

But we came up with a different solution. There’s a famous pilgrimage route to Rome passing through San Gimignano, the Via Francigena. And one of the buses leaving Volterra that day is crossing the Via Francigena! So, we took the bus towards Colle Val d’Elsa and got off at the village of Campiglia.

Some years ago, we have already hiked one leg of this famous pilgrimage route: In Switzerland, we walked from Martigny to Saint Maurice.

Onward transport to the Val d’ Orcia, where we did some fantastic Brunello wine tasting, was much easier, as it was not on a Sunday.

Hiking the Via Francigena to San Gimignano in Tuscany

From Campiglia it is less than 10 km to San Gimignano, on a pleasant broad hiking path. We pass olive plantations, vineyards, and lovely Tuscan countryside villas. An Italian family on a weekend excursion is picking wild herbs. Walking up and down some smaller hills, we barely catch a glimpse of the mediaeval towers of San Gimignano. But when we reach the last ridge south of town and finally join the road, we get a clear view on the unique mediaeval skyline. Hiking on the Via Francigena might be the best way to approach San Gimignano, we decide.

Shortly before San Gimignano we spot an old abbey near the street and turn to have a look inside. The caretaker comes out of the church shop: Buon Giorno! Are you pilgrims? Sheepishly we must admit that we have only hiked two hours, and in the wrong direction at that! The Via Francigena is the historical route from Canterbury to Rome, passing San Gimignano from North to South.

The town of San Gimignano itself is sitting on a rocky sporn. Tall city walls with round towers and battlements protect it all around. Tuscany is a quite hilly area. Thus, even the earliest inhabitants have always settled on the hilltops, and most towns and cities have their origins in Etruscan and Roman villages. Mediaeval San Gimignano also built its city walls on the remnants of Roman walls and probably Etruscan structures.

The mediaeval towers of San Gimignano

San Gimignano’s main draw are its 14 mediaeval towers. In the heyday of the city, a full 72 of these towers crowded the small area inside the city walls. The influential families built those tower houses, trying to outrival each other in status. The city then thrived until the Black Death struck in the 14^th century. About half of the population died and San Gimignano never recovered from that time on, neither economically nor culturally. Therefore, its mediaeval centre remained largely intact and from the 19^th century the towers of San Gimignano became a tourist destination. And since 1990 the town is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

We start our sightseeing day in San Gimignano with one of the prominent stone towers. After admiring the beautiful frescoes of the Town Hall, we can climb up the 54 m high Torre Grossa. It is the tallest structure in town, and we have a good overview on the town and all the other mediaeval towers of San Gimignano.

High-rises for protection

In the so-called Dark Ages, it was apparently not enough to have strong city walls to ward off invaders. In addition, you wouldn’t know when your fellow citizens might turn on you. Most families who could afford a big house thus also built a stone tower on top. Mind you, they were not meant to have more light in the upper storeys, in a cramped downtown area! In fact, the towers practically don’t have windows at all. They added living space to the house but were mostly meant as fortifications and safe rooms in dangerous times.

Originally, many towns in the region had similar stone towers, but in most cities they were shortened and look like normal town houses now. You can climb on a tower house in the small town of Lucca in Italy. On top you will even find some trees. And the remaining towers of Bologna are some of the highest in Italy, at more than 60 m and definitely a highlight of Bologna.

Mediaeval comics in the churches of San Gimignano

The tiny Old Town of San Gimignano nevertheless has a great number of old churches. Most date from the Middle Ages. And so do the frescoes remaining on the walls. We marvel at the gruesome scenes of hell and purgatory in the church of San Lorenzo in Ponte. The Duomo of San Gimignano has a separate chapel dedicated to the local saint, Santa Fina. Its walls are covered with beautiful frescoes depicting the life of Santa Fina by the Florentine painter Domenico Ghirlandaio.

We have already seen stunning mediaeval paintings showing the life of Santa Fina in the museum. With dragons and action scenes it looked quite wild. But we can’t work out what exactly Santa Fina did to achieve sainthood and how the dragons figured in. It seems that due to an illness, the young Fina was unable to move anymore. For six years she lay on a plank in one position. Her mother had to leave her for hours while she went to work or beg, but Fina never complained. She died at a young age and people admired her for her strong faith.

Ice cream and wine tastings

Strolling below the mediaeval towers of San Gimignano, we enjoy Italy and its ice-cream. The master ice cream maker of the Gelateria Dondoli has won several prizes for his delicious ice cream. However, we find the prized ice cream slightly too sweet. But we do appreciate the unusual flavours here, like Rosemary or Santa Fina (with saffron and pine nuts).

In the evening we have a glass of Vernaccia in one of the numerous wine bars. Vernaccia is a type of white wine produced in the area around San Gimignano.

On the day we are leaving, we walk with our backpacks through town and out the Southern city gate of San Gimignano. Some locals elders standing there turn towards us, their faces lighting up: “Via Francígena?” But no, we are just walking to the bus station!

We had a great time in San Gimignano und would strongly recommend to visit not the big tourist town in Italy, like Florence and Milano. But also include smaller towns in your itinerary like San Gimignano or the Renaisance town of Pienza in Tuscany.

How to visit the mediaeval towers of San Gimignano

We spent one full day exploring the small town of San Gimignano, and that was more than enough. On the other hand, spending at least one night gives you the chance to experience the town without the day trippers from Siena and Florence. We stayed outside the old town, which was considerably cheaper. It also had the bonus of a view on the mediaeval towers of San Gimignano from our room as well as from the parking area.

Travelling to San Gimignano by public transport is easiest from Siena. A direct public bus runs several times a day. If you are coming by train, you have to change to the bus in Poggibonsi.

***All expenses for our trip to San Gimignano were paid by ourselves. We did not reveive any sponsoring.***