World Heritage Identification Number: 550
World Heritage since: 1990
Category: Cultural Heritage
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇮🇹 Italy
Continent: Europe
UNESCO World Region: Europe and North America
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A Journey Through Time: Exploring the Historic Centre of San Gimignano
The Historic Centre of San Gimignano, nestled in the heart of Tuscany, offers a captivating glimpse into the rich history and architectural splendor of medieval Italy. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990, this enchanting hilltown boasts a unique blend of Romanesque and Gothic structures that have miraculously withstood the test of time.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
'San Gimignano delle belle Torri' is in Tuscany, 56 km south of Florence. It served as an important relay point for pilgrims travelling to or from Rome on the Via Francigena. The patrician families who controlled the town built around 72 tower-houses (some as high as 50 m) as symbols of their wealth and power. Although only 14 have survived, San Gimignano has retained its feudal atmosphere and appearance. The town also has several masterpieces of 14th- and 15th-century Italian art.
Encyclopedia Record: San Gimignano
San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. Known as the Town of Five Towers, San Gimignano is famous for its medieval architecture, unique in the preservation of about a dozen of its tower houses, which, with its hilltop setting and encircling walls, form "an unforgettable skyline". Within the walls, the well-preserved buildings include notable examples of both Romanesque and Gothic architecture, with outstanding examples of secular buildings as well as churches. The Palazzo Comunale, the Collegiata and Church of Sant' Agostino contain frescos, including cycles dating from the 14th and 15th centuries. The "Historic Centre of San Gimignano" is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town also is known for saffron, the dry aged and saffron infused Golden Ham, pecorino cheese and its white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, produced from the ancient variety of Vernaccia grape grown on the sandstone hillsides of the area.Additional Site Details
Area: 13.88 hectares
(iii) — Unique or exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition
(iv) — Outstanding example of a type of building or landscape
Coordinates: 43.46806 , 11.04167
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