San Gimignano, the “town of towers”, stands majestically on a hill straddling Val d'Elsa and Val d'Era at 334 meters above sea level; its walls and fortified buildings forms a unique horizon nestled in the heart of the Etruscan territory. San Gimignano, situated along one of the Via Francigena, was once a renowned stopping point for pilgrims traveling to and from Rome; to its name it’s related a curious legend.
The story goes that on January 31st a young man of Colle Val d'Elsa, who was in Modena, attended on that day the solemn funeral for the death of Bishop Gimignano. Being dazzled by a large ring on the dead bishop’s finger, the young man decided to stole it taking advantage of a moment of confusion in the crowd. Unfortunately, the ring did not came off, letting him to pull it so hard that the jewel came along with the entire finger. The boy then came back to his village but, still terrified by what he had done, took refuge in a country church. There he remained for three days and three nights, but when he decided to leave, he noticed that the door was locked and he had lost the gift of sight. It is said that, to his first responders the boy appeared destroyed; he returned the stolen finger, regaining the sight, and broke into tears of repentance. Both the ring and the finger are still part of the assets of the reliquary Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Assunta in San Gimignano.
The village of San Gimignano that originally belonged to the jurisdiction of the bishops of Volterra, gained its independence in 1199, the year of the proclamation of its first mayor. The city, known as the independent municipality of San Gimignano delle Belle Torri, experienced a long period of economic splendor, which was due mainly to the trade of fine local agricultural products such as saffron also sold abroad, in France, the Netherlands, to Syria, and to the activities of financial speculation. Thus was born an urban aristocracy, the city was in fact ruled by two great rival families, the Guelphs Ardinghelli and the Ghibellines Salvucci, who were in constant struggle trying to prevail over one another through the construction of towers. The tallest tower symbolized the most powerful faction; in total 72 tower-houses were built, but just 14 of them have come to our days, which are:
• The Devil’s Tower, which was named after a curious event, occurred to its owner it is said in fact that after returning from a trip, he noticed with great surprise that his tower was taller than when he had left it. This strange event was immediately connected to a diabolical participation and so the tower become connected to the Devil itself.
• The Tower of Becci and the Tower of Cugnanesi.
• The two towers of Ardinghelli, a noble Ghibelline family.
• The twin towers of Salvucci, a noble family at war with the Ardinghelli family.
• The Tower of Pucci, a truncated tower leaned on Palazzo Tortoli. It is characterised by mullioned windows in Gothic style.
• The Tower of Pellari.
• Tower Chigi, one of the most beautiful, but the lowest, of towers.
• The “Torre Grossa”, completed in 1311, and built entirely of travertine. It is almost 54 meters high and is located on the right of the Town Hall, in Piazza del Duomo.
• Torre “Rognosa”, it name is due to people who were affected by scabies and inhabited the tower that was once a prison.
With the considerable economic resources gained, the city began the construction of major public works. The town was in fact divided into four districts, each corresponding to a main door: that of Piazza di Castello, of St. Matteo and St. Giovanni, and it even hosted Dante Alighieri as an ambassador of the Guelph League in Tuscany.
But the independence and the glory lasted only until 1353 when San Gimignano, after having been decimated by an epidemics of black plague, was subjected to the Republic of Florence. Since that date, the city’s economic, cultural and architectural growth ended, but despite this period of decline, a large range of artistic initiatives were carried out. In the late nineteenth century, the town has seen a progressive revival thanks to the increasing flow of tourists who came to admire a centre that has preserved intact its original architectural beauty. San Gimignano is today a UNESCO world heritage site.
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