Medieval Manhattan

Italy Part 3

San Gimignano is an amazing completely medieval town a few hours away from Florence. It's called the 'Medieval Manhattan' because of it's 14 preserved towers, the tallest being 54 meters. Originally 72, most of the towers had been built in the 12th century due to a rivalry between two families, Guelphs and Ghibellines, which prompted each family endeavouring to build their towers higher than the other. In Assassin's Creed you come to the city on a side quest to kill Vieri de'Pazzi and other conspirators against the Medici family which is how Steve heard about the place. 

I mentally drool over the thought of having a medieval reenactment festival here. Take away the tourists and pesky Christmas decorations and put everyone in kit, you'd barely have to change a thing. This city has gone essentially unchanged for centuries and still has all it's little charms, frescoed courtyards, beautiful cathedrals and bells tolling from towers. From around the city walls you have insane panoramas of the countryside and other little villages. We bought gelato, and immediately after taking the photo below Steve's cone broke and dropped the gelato on the the cobblestone. He stared at it in grief and disbelief, and I don't think he'll ever forgive me for recommending cones because they look nicer in pictures. 

There were a bunch of stores selling the fruits of Tuscany - typically fermented, but also meats, cheeses, olive oils with lovely samples tables. In every piazza there were different buskers playing harps, guitars or violins and one guy had something that looked like a musical hookah, no clue what that was. We sat on city walls just watching the starling murmurations dart around the sky as the sun began to sink. San Gimignano is a small medieval haven, easy enough to see for a day but the feel of it will stay with me for a lot longer.