San Gimignano is an ancient village and charming. For this reason, over the centuries, its history has been enhanced beyond measure. So we wanted to bring back in a list of ten points, some news that perhaps not everyone knows about the medieval town of San Gimignano.
1. San Gimignano was declared in 1990 by UNESCO World Heritage Site: this because (except for some renovation in the twentieth century), the village reflects the medieval town, providing an unparalleled example of the urban organization of that era.
2. The symbol of San Gimignano are the towers . The original village had 72. To date are preserved intact 13 that can be seen as soon as you look up towards the village.
3. A regulation of the 1255 forbade citizens to build a tower higher than Rognosa, at the time the highest (51 meters). Families Ardinghelli and Salvucci, however, not respected it, by building two smaller height. To date, the tallest tower is the Torre Grossa or Podesta, which measures 54 meters.
4. Car enthusiasts can visit, in San Gimignano, the Peugeot Museum. The facility is open from Easter to November and in winter by appointment only. Here you can admire the Peugeot Type 3 (1892), one of the first cars to run on the italian roads.
5. Interesting to visit is the Torture Museum, for the strong hearts. Here are stored all the tools used to torture prisoners and to inflict the death penalty along with some old documents of the Inquisition.
6. Fans of video games will be able to see San Gimignano in the setting of one of the most successful video games in recent years. We are talking about Assansin’s Creed in which are represented the most notable edifices of the town.
7. The village was the birthplace, in 1270, of Folgore from San Gimignano, leading exponent of comic-realistic 1300 poetry.
8. January 31 is the feast of the patron saint, San Gimignano: for the occasion the streets of the city are filled with stalls.
9. The pageants are one of the highlights of San Gimignano’s events: particularly striking is the one which takes place during the Fair of Messi, scheduled every year in the middle days of June.
10.San Gimignano remained in the hearts of many writers and foreign artists. One in particular, EM Forster, set his novel (titled Monteriano) on an imaginary city, loosely based precisely on the Tuscan village.