A VISIT TO THE HILL TOWN OF SAN GIMIGNANO

On our second day we took the bus to San Gimignano, a small walled medieval hill town known as the City of Fine Towers. The streets are narrow and the buildings quite tall.

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Along the outer wall of the City

In the Piazza Della Cisterna

 

And here is the cisterna (well)

 

The Collegiata, consecrated in 1148

There are a large number of towers in the city.  Originally there were seventy two but only fifteen survive today.  There is just one you can climb to the top, the Terra Grossa.  Quite a climb it was.

The Terra Grossa, which is part of the Palazzo del Popolo

View from the top looking down on the Piazza Della Cisterna from the Terra Grossa

A view over the city to the West

A view to the North

A closer view of the cisterna

Looking down on one of the narrow cavernous streets

The Rocca, an old fortress with one surviving tower (back right) built in 1353

A close up of the tower at the Rocca

A rather charming doorway

Sant'Agostina, a typical hall-like structure

In the cloisters at Sant'Agostina

Six of the towers

 And one more

Sant'Agostina from the tower at the Rocca

It was very hot day and time to take a rest in the Rocca grounds

It was time to catch the bus back to Siena which we managed with a change at Poggibonsi, always a challenge in a foreign country.