San Gimignano

After spending the last few days in Florence, I needed to get away and explore new cities full of history and culture that are only a short train ride away. So Saturday brought my roommate Alex and myself to what is now one of my favorite cities in Italy, San Gimignano. It is known as the tower city, because in its prime, boasted 72 towers within its city walls. Now, with only 14 remaining, it’s still can’t shake the name.
 

The only way to get to the city is by either a train or bus to a small town called Poggibonsi, and then take another bus for about 20 minutes to San Gimignano. Driving through the Tuscan countryside, through vineyards and rolling hills, the city ominously rises out of the horizon like the Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz. It gives off an almost spooky feeling, as if it were a haunted mansion in the distance, with its gray stone turrets popping up in a cluster.  Once inside the city wall, which keeps out both traffic, and the modern world, it doesn’t seem so spooky anymore.

San Gimignano

We were immediately hungry as the smells of the city filled our nostrils. We had a Rick Steves guidebook with us and decided to do the walking tour. The first stop was a small restaurant directly to the left of the gate up a small flight of steps leading to a piazzetta where the restaurant was. It was about 12:30 and it was packed. Rick highly recommended the place because of the amazing food and low prices, so there was no turning down the two-hour wait. We decided to walk around the city until 2:30 and found ourselves walking on the outside of the city walls on an old path that was well maintained and had amazing views of the countryside. We went back into the city where we came across the Piazza della Cisterna, where a well is the focal point of the rotund square. The well has been there for centuries and is apparent from the deep grooves carved into the outer rim from years of fingers grasping onto the ledge.

The path along they city wall

The countryside outside the wall is covered in vineyards and olive groves

The well. Notice the grooves around the side!

Moving onto the adjoining piazza is Piazza del Duomo, where the main focal point is… the Duomo. For a few euro, tourists can climb the tower that dominates the piazza, something we would do after lunch. After trying to kill time until our reservation, we made our way back to Trattoria Chiribiri to have some local food. The city and the region are known for cinghiale, roasted wild boar. As soon as I read about it, I knew I was going to have to have it. I ordered the lasagnette al cinghiale, which are wide noodles in the cinghiale sauce. It. Was. Amazing. It tasted a lot like roast beef in a tomato sauce, but better. We split a half-liter of wine and our bill was only ten euro apiece! We then went back to Piazza della Cisterna where we enjoyed some of the best gelato ever. Literally. The gelato maker, Sergio, was a part of the team that won the official Gelato World Cup. I got a cone with Rum Cappuccino, Ciocolato all’amaretto, and a saffron flavored gelato. San Gimignano is known for having the best saffron in Italy, so of course I had to try some!

The Duomo

The amazing restaurant

Gelato!

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around the quaint medieval town and out to a small olive grove in a garden with a small ruined tower offering the best view of the city. It was starting to become cloudy so we knew we had to make our way to the tower before it closed due to rain. On our way, we came across Sant’Agostino, a church built by the Augustinians in the 1200’s. I stopped by the bookstore to browse their selection and came across a small Daily Prayers book in Italian. It has a bunch of simple prayers that we say everyday, but in Italian, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to learn some more Italian while growing in my faith. I was looking a little more and came across The Confessions by St. Augustine, written about twelve years after his epic conversion. This book is deeply respected in our faith and I thought it would be a good opportunity to start reading it, especially buying it from a church named after him! When I checked out, the cashier began talking to me in Italian and said I was very spiritual. We began talking a little bit and then he asked me if I was a Seminarian! I was kind of taken aback by this question, not expecting it, and quickly responded, “uh, no.” It was a nice reassurance to me that my faith life was becoming more apparent in my everyday life, which is the whole goal.

View of the city with the olive groves

We hurried on to the Torre Grossa where we climbed the 218 steps to the top. Along the way was a small museum displaying some pieces of art by Lippi and an altarpiece of St. Gimignano holding the town as it was with all 72 towers, in his arms. Once to the top, the view of the city was amazing. The city is already on a hill, so being 200 feet on top of the hill gives you stunning views of the Tuscan countryside and the surrounding towers.

From on top of Torre Grossa. You can see Sant'Agostino at the top of the photo.

Me at the top of Torre Grossa! Oh, and I got a haircut a few weeks ago.

On the way back to the bus stop, I had to stop by an enoteca to buy a couple bottles of the city’s infamous wine. Tuscany, and Italy in general, is more well known for its red wines, but the best white wine in the region comes directly from San Gimignano. Their Vernaccia di San Gimignano sells like hotcakes at IHOP. Every store literally has pallets of bottles of Vernaccia for a very cheap price. I bought each of my bottles for only 3.90 euro! Although I’m much more of a red wine kinda guy, a good local product never hurts. I love that you can only get it from the source, so once it runs out, you have a good reason to return! San Gimignano is most definitely a place I will be returning to one day.