San Gimignano

In the 3rd century BC a small Etruscan village stood on the site of San Gimignano. Chroniclers Lupi, Coppi and Pecori relate that during the Catiline conspiracy against the Roman Republic in the 1st century, two patrician brothers, Muzio and Silvio, fled Rome for Valdelsa and built two castles, Mucchio and Silvia (now San Gimignano). The name of Silvia was changed to San Gimignano in 450 AD after Bishop Geminianus, the Saint of Modena, intervened to spare the castle from destruction by the followers of Attila the Hun. As a result, a church was dedicated to the saint, and in the 6th and 7th centuries a walled village grew up around it, subsequently called the "Castle of San Gimignano" or Castle of the Forest because of the extensive woodland surrounding it. From 929 the town was ruled by the bishop of Volterra. …

San Gimignano is the birthplace of the poet Folgore da San Gimignano (1270–1332). A fictionalized version of San Gimignano is featured in E. M. Forster's 1905 novel, Where Angels Fear to Tread as Monteriano. M. C. Escher's 1923 woodcut San Gimignano depicts the celebrated towers. Marcel L'Herbier used San Gimignano as one of the main locations in his 1925 film Feu Mathias Pascal. L'Herbier's love of architecture ensured that views of the towers and shots of various streets and piazze were heavily featured. Franco Zeffirelli used San Gimignano as a stand-in for the town of Assisi in his 1972 Saint Francis of Assisi biopic Brother Sun, Sister Moon. Most of the "Assisi" scenes were filmed here. Tea with Mussolini, a 1999 drama about the plight of English and American expatriate women in Italy during World War II, was filmed in part in San Gimignano. …

The town of San Gimignano has many examples of Romanesque and Gothic architecture, which are distinguished from each other by their round and pointed arches, respectively. As well as churches and medieval fortifications, there are examples of Romanesque secular and domestic architecture. A particular feature which is typical of the region of Siena is the depressed arches of openings, with doorways often having a second low arch set beneath a semi-circular or pointed arch. Both Romanesque and Gothic windows sometimes have a bifurcate form, with two openings divided by a stone mullion under a single arch. A 1:100 recreation of the city in the 14th century is housed in the SanGimignano1300 museum. This piazza, entered from Via San Giovanni, is the main square of the town. It was named after the cistern constructed in 1287. …