Our group spent half a day in San Gimignano (which our guide Sarah professed to be her favorite hill town). This hill-town has more medieval towers than any other hill town in Italy. Back in the 1200s, noble families were the power forces in hill towns and built towers to show off their power. If a town was conquered, the towers were often destroyed. San Gimignano somehow managed to preserve several of its towers. We gathered by a gate in the wall, then ventured inside the well-preserved medieval town wall.
One of our first stops was to meet the chef behind one of the best gelato stores in Italy (Gelateria Dondoli — two-time winner of the Gelato World Championship competition). Chef Sergio Dondoli owns the shop but also teaches a gelato class. At Sarah's behest, he met with us to welcome us to San Gimignano and to tell us a bit about his business. We learned a bit about making gelato well and creating new flavors, especially one he created for Michelle Obama when she visited San Gimignano. It contains Saffron Cantuccini, Avola almonds, honey, and bitter orange peel. We had some later in the day. The Michelle tasted amazing.
OK, OK. I confess. We also had gelato a second time that day (on our way back to the bus). We just had to try his bestseller, Saffron. Also amazing. It was hard to say which one I liked the most!
OK, OK. I confess. We also had gelato a second time that day (on our way back to the bus). We just had to try his bestseller, Saffron. Also amazing. It was hard to say which one I liked the most!
From the top left: The gate into the town through the well-preserved medieval wall, followed by a shot of one of San Gimignano’s famed towers. William and I climbed to the top of the city’s bell tower, Torre Grossa—all 218 steps. The views were amazing, as shown in the other four photos.
We also visited the Duomo. This cathedral is a part of the ‘Historic Centre of San Gimignano’, which is considered to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The church was originally built in the 10th century and renovated in the 12th century. One chapel has the beautiful work, The Annunciation of Mary by Sebastiano Mainardi, created in 1482.
A chapel inside is dedicated to St. Fina. About the time her father died, Fina was afflicted with a number of ailments affecting her head, hands, eyes, feet and internal organs. Paralysis ensued. For six years, she lay on her back on a board in terrible pain to emulate the suffering of Christ. Her chapel contains this fresco by Domenico Ghirlandaio of St. Fina seeing a vision of St. Gregory, announcing she would die eight days later—white violets sprouting from the wooden board beneath her. Eight days later, as predicted, she died of gangrene of the head (who knew that was even a thing?). She is now the patron saint of both spinners and the physically challenged. I know you all have been hoping to see more relics. The Duomo of San Gimignano has St Fina’s skeleton on display as a holy relic.
I suspect we all would have liked to spend more time there, but we needed to get on the bus to head to Lucca! On the way, we stopped to pay our respects at the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial.
A chapel inside is dedicated to St. Fina. About the time her father died, Fina was afflicted with a number of ailments affecting her head, hands, eyes, feet and internal organs. Paralysis ensued. For six years, she lay on her back on a board in terrible pain to emulate the suffering of Christ. Her chapel contains this fresco by Domenico Ghirlandaio of St. Fina seeing a vision of St. Gregory, announcing she would die eight days later—white violets sprouting from the wooden board beneath her. Eight days later, as predicted, she died of gangrene of the head (who knew that was even a thing?). She is now the patron saint of both spinners and the physically challenged. I know you all have been hoping to see more relics. The Duomo of San Gimignano has St Fina’s skeleton on display as a holy relic.
I suspect we all would have liked to spend more time there, but we needed to get on the bus to head to Lucca! On the way, we stopped to pay our respects at the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial.