San Gimignano picturesque city of Tuscany Bashny.Net

San Gimignano is situated at altitude 334 m above sea level, a place of ancient Etruscan settlements from the II-III centuries BC, but the town appeared here in the X century. It was named after the canonised Bishop of Modena who, according to legend, in the VI century stopped in this place, hordes of Attila, and saved the settlement and the lives of many people.





Reaching the highest peak during the middle Ages, since then the town has changed little and wonderfully preserved its medieval appearance, including the city walls and fourteen stone towers — "skyscrapers of the middle ages." In 1990, the historic centre of San Gimignano is among the world heritage sites of UNESCO





The main architectural "highlight" fourteen medieval towers built by the noblest families, who wanted to emphasize their social position in the XI-XIII centuries. All were built, according to various estimates, from 70 to 76 towers, but to this day few survived, including the house Manganese, Pesciolini, Palazzo Francesi-Ceccarelli with asymmetrical facade constructed in order to circumvent the restrictions on construction, established in 1255. Some skyscrapers reach a height of 50 meters.



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