MEDIEVAL WALLED CITY OF SAN GIMIGNANO

San Gimignano was founded as a small village in the 3rd century BC.  It's historical records begin in the 10th century, when it adopted the name of the bishop Saint Geminianus, who had defended it from Attila's Huns.

The city  flourished till 1348when the Black Death affected all of Europe.SanGimignano became a secondary centre until the 19th century, when its status as a touristic and artistic resort began to be recognised due to the fact that its architecture has survived where other cities monuments had not.  It has managed to conserve fourteen towers of varying heights which have become its symbol.

Some parts of themovie, Tea with Mussolini, made in 1999 was filmed in the town.

Despite the weather deteriorating it was a charming place to wander around for an hour on a late winter afternoon.  This was the last stop on the day tour I took of the Tuscan region.  You could really spend so much time in these little places where the history is so rich and actually touchable .

view over the countryside from the walled entry

The streets are very steep and require some stamina to navigate them.  All part of the experience.

 

Coming out into an unexpectedly large area after narrow, winding streets.

View of the outside wall when almost dark.

This ducky little truck was parked outside the city gate.

you want to keep wandering down these narrow streets just to see where they end up

Always a suprise to see a car in these areas

 The Christmas decorations are everywhere and add to the charm of the streets, especially when it gets dark so early.





                              Ciao

                             Jo