Heritage Walk: exploring the historic center on foot, on the trail of UNESCO criteria
Known around the world for its iconic skyline and the beauty it preserves, the historic center of San Gimignano has been on the World Heritage List since 1990: it was, in fact, one of the first sites in Italy to receive this recognition from UNESCO. The nomination is due to some peculiar characteristics of San Gimignano, such as its great historical-artistic heritage and the exceptional value of a perfectly preserved medieval old town: it is precisely these uniquenesses that make the city an ideal place to walk, on the trail of the "heritage criteria."
The historic center and the Unesco criteria
There are three criteria that characterize and make the historic center of San Gimignano unique in the world:
Criterion (I):
The city's historic center preserves a number of masterpieces of 14th- and 15th-century Italian art in their original architectural context. In the Collegiate Church, in particular, are Taddeo di Bartolo's fresco of the Last Judgment (1393), Benozzo Gozzoli's Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian (1465), and, above all, Domenico Ghirlandaio's magnificent frescoes (the Santa Fina cycle, 1475) and the Annunciation in the Baptistery (1482). Other works of exceptional value are the large frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli depicting Saint Sebastian and Saint Augustine.
Criterion (III):
San Gimignano is an exceptional testimony to medieval civilization because it encloses, within a limited area, all the typical structures of urban life: squares and streets, houses and palaces, wells and fountains. Memmo di Filippuccio's frescoes, commissioned by the City in 1303 to decorate the rooms of the Podestà in the Palazzo del Popolo, are among the documents most frequently used to illustrate, right down to the details of domestic space, everyday life in the 14th century.
Criterion (IV):
While the urban landscape of Florence, dominated by the towers of its public palaces (Palazzo del Podestà and Palazzo della Signoria) shows how public institutions prevailed over personal power-the height of the noble house-towers was periodically reduced after 1250-in San Gimignano, whose encastellation dates back to 998, the 14 towers proudly raised above its palaces preserve the appearance of a Tuscan feudal city, controlled by rival factions always ready for conflict. They show a significant moment in history that cannot be documented in cities like Florence, Siena, Bologna, despite their extraordinary monuments.

Continuing to the Piazza del Duomo one is about to begin the second stage of the walk: here, in fact, are the Palazzo del Podestà, the Collegiata and other important buildings. One begins already from these first steps to understand how the historic center preserves not only some significant works, but how, as a whole, it has preserved the complex system of medieval towns made up of streets, squares, city walls, palaces, but also an articulated water system.
The beautifully frescoed hall preserves some important evidence of inscriptions that bring us back to the theme of democracy and thus the third UNESCO criterion: it is an invocation to respect for justice and equality, considering all men equal before the law, something not taken for granted in the 14th century and a sign of great civilization.
Also in the Palazzo Comunale, one can visit the Camera del Podestà, which preserves an important cycle of frescoes documenting the life of the couple in the Middle Ages and which are a unique testimony of its kind.
Climbing the Torre Grossa will allow one to discover the context in which the historic center is immersed, made up of a dialogue between the Tuscan countryside and ancient paths such as the Via Francigena, still traveled by pilgrims today.