The San Gimignano countryside guards a chain of families and producers who cultivate saffron, this precious purple flower from which they make stigmas, because that is how it is marketed, not in powdered form but in precious filaments, with the D.O.P. label guaranteeing this ancient tradition.
Its production traces its roots back as far as the 1200s and soon found trade throughout Europe and even in the East and Africa, making the fortunes of many merchants who, with the proceeds, commissioned the construction of city towers as high as wealth and power. A particularly valuable spice, it was used for dyeing textiles, as a bargaining chip and also to pay homage to important figures such as Emperor Frederick II. With an intense flavor tending toward bitterish, its cultivation today, as then, is based on traditional methods and enriches various recipes of the local cuisine.
In May 2017, the Consorzio dello Zafferano di San Gimignano DOP was established to promote and enhance one of the territory's most authentic products. This PDO product is still marketed in stems, and not in powder form, to avoid counterfeiting and guarantee quality.
D.O.C.G. trademark and the first wine on the peninsula to bear the D.O.C. label, this is the white wine produced in the San Gimignano municipal area. The combed hills that shroud the village in scenic wonder give this wine its prized organoleptic qualities, the result of the expert working of the land between innovation and tradition. Vernaccia di San Gimignano has been produced and traded since the Middle Ages. Derived from the vine of the same name, it is believed that it was known even before Roman times and that its name derives from the Latin vernaculum meaning "local" or, according to another hypothesis, that the grape variety came from Liguria and found assonance and etymological origin from the Cinque Terre village Vernazza. The historic walls of the Fortress of Montestaffoli house the Vernaccia Consortium where there is a museum and a beautiful terrace for tastings.
Undoubtedly among the most significant monuments of the city stands out the Collegiate Church of Santa Maria Assunta, also known as the Cathedral of San Gimignano, which for centuries has been an indispensable destination for spiritual refreshment and cultural enrichment. A space with a basilica plan, marked by fourteen Tuscan stone columns and entirely covered with frescoes. The wonder unfolds in the side walls frescoed in the 14th century with a fresco cycle of the New Testament, a masterpiece of the Sienese artists Lippo and Tederigo Memmi, and the Stories from the Old Testament painted by Bartolo di Fredi. Inside, shining in its own light is the Chapel of Santa Fina. This little jewel of the Renaissance encapsulates the mastery of sculptor Benedetto da Maiano, painter Domenico Ghirlandaio and architect Giuliano da Maiano: three celebrated Florentine artists. The back wall houses the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian by Benozzo Gozzoli and the Last Judgment, by Taddeo di Bartolo, who is also responsible for the depiction of the Paradise and the fine interpretation of theInferno.
Curious similarities surface in the cycle frescoed by the Florentine painter Cenni di Francesco di ser Cenni around 1413 in the Romanesque church of San Lorenzo in Ponte. In the small room, in fact, one can admire otherworldly representations of Dante's Purgatory, of theInferno and of Paradise. The Florentine painter is also credited with the remaking of the Madonna in Glory on the right wall of the loggia, whose face is attributed to the young Simone Martini.
It then finds its rightful place in the ancient Council Chamber of San Gimignano, a testimony clearly referring to the unmistakable master of the 14th-century Sienese school: the Majesty (1317) by Lippo Memmi, a copy of Simone Martini's famous fresco in Siena's Palazzo Pubblico. Also called Dante Hall, on May 7, 1300 it welcomed the supreme poet who, as a Florentine ambassador, arrived to plead for the accession of the municipality of San Gimignano to the League of Guelph municipalities of Tuscany. The hall's splendor was already manifested then with the vivid colors of the chivalric cycle attributed to the painter Azzo di Masetto, created a few years earlier in 1289.
The heritage of the enchanting Tuscan landscape is even more impressive when admired from the top of the Torre Grossa. The last to be built out of a strong desire of the municipality to have a real symbol of power. Inaugurated in 1311, although the towers had already begun to be replaced with more practical dwellings, it was the tallest in the city, reaching the respectable height of 54 meters.
The second floor of the Torre Grossa houses the chamber of the Podestà, where profane stories, by the Sienese Memmo di Filippuccio, from the 14th century warned the governor against corruptions and seductions, represented mainly by the female figure. Opposite the chamber, the hall of the picture gallery, which was originally intended to be frescoed with red and yellow wave decorations to recall the colors of the municipality. The collection preserves panel paintings from religious bodies in the terriotory that have now been suppressed. Thus, testimonies of Sienese and Florentine artists from the 13th to 15th centuries find their home there, including such masters as Coppo di Marcovaldo, Rinaldo da Siena, Filippino Lippi, Benozzo Gozzoli, Benedetto da Maiano and Pinturicchio. With due time, one can appreciate all its masterpieces and satisfy curiosities about the city's two patron saints, following the narrative of Taddeo di Bartolo's panel San Gimignano and eight stories from his life and of the polyptych by Lorenzo di Niccolò di Martino St. Gregory, St. Fina and stories from her life. The model of the city of San Gimignano is held in the hands of the patron saints, committed to eternally protecting a treasure of inestimable value.
An emblem of the city, surrounded by noble houses and medieval towers, Piazza della Cisterna is one of the most striking squares in San Gimignano. Located in the heart of the city, the square was built in the 13th century with the original features, still preserved today, according to the provisions of the Ghibelline Commune. Originally, the square was located at the intersection of the Via Francigena and the road connecting Pisa and Siena, i.e., the two main roads of the medieval town, and was intended for the market, festivals and town tournaments. Given its strategic location, the square was a real center of popular gathering, which is why it was originally called Piazza delle Taverne, because of the many inns where wayfarers and travelers went to stop and rest. The square owes its name to the cistern located in the center of it, built in 1273 and enlarged in 1346 under the podestà of Guccio di Malavolti, a name that is featured on the coat of arms of the cistern itself. It had been created to enable the population to get water more easily by pulling up jugs with chains and ropes, as evidenced by the grooves on the edges of the well.
With a curious triangular shape and characterized by a natural slope, the square is at the center of a spectacular "arena" composed of the most famous towers and palaces of the medieval city. Devil's Tower, the Ardinghelli family towers, Palazzo Razzi and Palazzo Tortoli-Treccani are just some of the historic buildings surrounding the square. Also in the southwest part is the famous Arco dei Becci and the tower of the same name, while opposite the cistern is Casa Salvestrini, an ancient shelter for pilgrims. Despite the passage of time, Piazza della Cisterna has always remained the nerve center of San Gimignano of all ages.
