City of the Beautiful Towers (delle belle torri)

He broods in candlelit darkness - a richly clad forearm resting on a long wooden table, a chalice of good local wine in his hand.  Laws.  Stupid laws.  How can I build a suitable palace?    

San Gimignano, Tuscany, Italy June 2012

 Shaking his head in disgust, the wool merchant raises the cup to his mouth and drinks deeply of the delicious wine, wiping his mouth with his embroidered sleeve. 

Legislatori stupidi.

 

In 1255 the local lawmakers of San Gimignano, Tuscany, legislated that new buildings must not be more than 12 arm-lengths wide, and 24 arm-lengths deep to ensure that every house remained inside the stone fortifications. 

Northern Italy, particularly the area around Florence, Sienna, and San Gimignano were immensely wealthy as the merchant class flourished with a stable banking system, good sea trade routes and money to spend.  San Gimignano was a stopping point on the Via Francigena, the route that traversed the hills between Florence and Rome. 

The merchant families became rich due to the constant influx of affluent pilgrims passing through.  In time the prosperous citizens yearned to exhibit their own wealth by building grande casas and palaces.  The only solution under the current law was to go up. 

The food choices are vast.

Soon the merchant families of San Gimignano found themselves in war of status-symbols, building taller and more splendid stone towers.   At its economic height the city had a total of seventy-two distinctive tower-shaped palaces giving rise to the sobriquet of delle belle torri.

Then in 1348 the Black Plague devastated the city, killing more than half of the population.  The city faded into obscurity, gradually disintegrating as the empty towers crumbled or were torn down, the materials reused for smaller buildings. 

In the 19^th century San Gimignano was re-discovered as a tourist attraction, drawing the affluent to the city once again.  Over time the fourteen towers that had escaped the ravages of the economic disaster were restored, and the city is now classed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The colour choices bewildering.

We recently spent a day wandering the steep, winding streets of San Gimignano, weaving in and out amongst the crowd of tourists.  We dithered over colour choices for the inexpensive and well-made leather purses, shoes, and wallets. 

We perused the array of food choices, and of course the wine selections – red and white and what we called giggle juice, Prosecco, an Italian dry sparkling wine.   

Making savoury purchases for our evening meal we wandered away as the afternoon sun began to sear the stone buildings, heating the air. 

The wine choices extensive.

Time to head back to our rental house in Alberi.

Time for a cool nap.

 

As we drive up the adjoining hills, we can see the distinctive tower-spiked sky-line. 

It’s worth a stop for another photograph: delle belle torri.  San Gimignano Tuscany.

Artist painting San Gimignano - on distant hilltop.