Even from a distance, San Gimignano charms us with its unmistakable physiognomy: a village nestled on a hill from which numerous towers rise. Entering inside its walls, the excitement continues as we immerse ourselves in an authentic medieval urban nucleus where time seems to have stood still.
Starting from Porta San Giovanni, we will walk along the Via Francigena to understand the reasons behind the town’s considerable development in the Middle Ages. We will understand why the towers were built and what they were originally used for.
We will enter Palazzo Pubblico and climb the Torre Grossa, the tallest tower in town, which offers a splendid view of the town and the neighboring countryside. We will then visit the Sala del Consiglio, lingering over Lippo Memmi’s Majesty. Our tour of the palace will be completed with a visit to the Pinacoteca and the frescoes in the Camera del Podestà.
The tour will continue inside the Cathedral to admire its splendid works of art: the cycle of frescoes painted by Bartolo di Fredi, with scenes from the Old Testament, and the cycle attributed to Lippo and Tederigo Memmi, with scenes from the New Testament.
After observing Benozzo Gozzoli’s great San Sebastiano on the counter-façade, we will contemplate Taddeo di Bartolo’s frescoes of the Blessed and the Damned, with the portrayal of the underworld, dominated by the grim figure of Lucifer with Judas in his mouth, an obvious allusion to Dante’s Inferno.
We will then visit the Chapel of Santa Fina, a real architectural jewel of the purest Florentine Renaissance, built to a design by Giuliano da Maiano, decorated by his brother Benedetto and frescoed by Domenico Ghirlandaio.
Free
€ 30 per person (minimum 4 adults, not included the entrance ticket to Civic Museums)
€ 180 (groups of more than 10 adults)
