ITALY - TUSCANY: SAN GIMIGNANO

After travelling to Rome last year, I have come back to Italy to visit two nice areas of northern Italy: Tuscany and Lombardia. There are really lovely villages in these two provinces of Italy, as well as the beautiful city of Florence.

Piazza della Cisterna, one of the most beautiful places in San Gimignano

After having spent two nice days in Florence, San Gimignano and Siena were waiting for us. So we woke up early and catched a SITA bus we led us to San Gimignano via Poggibonsi.

That morning of our third day in Tuscany I was eager to visit San Gimignano because I was read that it's the best preserved medieval village in Tuscany. Besides, it's called the Manhattan of Tuscany because of its towers.

We arrived at San Gimignano at 9:30am and the village was really quiet and I could feel its medieval atmosphere. However, after enjoying fantastic views of San Gimignano from the top of  La Torre Grossa, we went to La Piazza della Cisterna and, unfortunately, it was incredibly packed with tourists.

So I strongly recommend visiting San Gimignano from 4pm, when most tourists have gone. Then you will be able to feel the charming medieval atmosphere of this village and enjoy walking quietly along its streets and between its really interesting medieval palazzos.

The most interesting places I visited in San Gimignano were:

• Piazza del Duomo
• Palazzo Vecchio del Podestà
• Torre Grossa (fantastic views from the top)
• Palazzo del Popolo
• Piazza Pecori
• Duomo or Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta
• La Rocca fortress and city walls
• Piazza della Cisterna
• Via San Giovanni

I also recommend walk along la Via de San Matteo and visiting the church of Saint Agostino.

Next I would like to show you some of the pictures I took of these beautiful places in San Gimignano.

Views from Torre Grossa

Palazzo Vecchio del Podestá with its vaulted loggia and Piazza del Duomo in San Gimignano. Above it stands the Rognosa Tower or Clock Tower 51 meters high  

La Piazza della Cisterna in San Gimignano is ringed with medieval towers and centred on a stone well

The Clock Tower and, on the right, la Piazza della Cisterna, the heart of San Gimignano together with la Piazza del Duomo

Terracota roofs of San Gimignano on the left and a typical scenery of Tuscany on the right 

Palazzo del Popolo

Palazzo del Popolo and La Torre Grossa in San Gimignano. La Collegiata de Santa Maria appears on the right too

Piazza Pecori

 Piazza Pecori is a lovely and peaceful square in San Gimignano located next to the Duomo and El Palazzo del Popolo

Piazza del Duomo

Duomo or Collegiata de Santa Maria Assunta in San Gimignano. On the right appears El Palazzo del Popolo and between these buildings there is an arch which leads to Piazza Pecori

Typical medieval houses in San Gimignano in Piazza dell'Erbe, next to the Duomo

Rocca fortress

Skyline of San Gimignano from a medieval fortress called La Rocca

Church of San Agostino in San Gimignano from La Rocca

Piazza della Cisterna

Towers of San Gimignano from Piazza della Cisterna

Piazza della Cisterna with the stone well and la Torre Grossa in the background

Buildings around la Piazza della Cisterna viewed through the stone well

Via San Giovanni

A lovely corner we found walking along the streets of San Gimignano

The arch on the right in Via San Giovanni leads to Piazza della Cisterna in San Gimignano

Typical souvenirs shops in Via San Giovanni in San Gimignano

Through la Porta de San Giovanni you can see La Torre Grossa, from which you can enjoy the best views of San Gimignano

I really would have spent all the day in San Gimignano if I had had enough time, but we had to go to Siena in the afternoon, another great town in Tuscany.

Below you can see the places I visited in Tuscany:

- Tuscany

• Florence
• San Gimignano
• Siena
• Pisa
• Lucca

- Lombardia

• Milano
• Lago di Como and Bellagio
• Bergamo

Finally, you can see more pictures of the days I spent in Rome last year clicking on the next links:

• Pictures of our first day in Rome
• Pictures of our second day in Rome
• Pictures of our third day in Rome
• Pictures of our fourth day in Rome
• Pictures of our fifth and sixth day in Rome

Other great cities and countries I have visited are:

• Barcelona
• Berlin
• New York and Washington
• London
• Dublin in Irleland
• Istanbul in Turkey
• Saint Petersburg
• Rome and The Vatican
• Paris
• Lisboa in Portugal
• Madrid
• Venezia
• Dubrovnik in Croatia

• The Greek Islands and Athens
• Bruges, Ghent and Brussels in Belgium

• Helsinki and Lapland in Finland

• Tallinn in Estonia

• Tortuguero, Caribe, Arenal, Monteverde and San José in Costa Rica

• Marrakech in Morocco