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San Gimignano (Siena - SI)
Toscana, Italia - Italy
...Dal sito ufficiale di San
Gimignano
San Gimignano si erge con il profilo delle sue torri, su di un colle
(m.334) a dominio della Val d’Elsa. Sede di un piccolo villaggio
etrusco del periodo ellenistico (III-II sec. a.C.) iniziò la sua
storia intorno al X secolo prendendo il nome del Santo Vescovo di
Modena: San Gimignano, che avrebbe salvato il borgo dalle orde
barbariche.
Ebbe grande sviluppo e una straordinaria fioritura di opere
d’arte che adornarono chiese e conventi. Nel 1199 divenne libero
comune, combattè contro i Vescovi di Volterra ed i comuni limitrofi,
patì lotte intestine dividendosi in due fazioni al seguito degli
Ardinghelli (guelfi) e dei Salvucci (ghibellini).
L’otto maggio 1300
ospitò Dante Alighieri, ambasciatore della lega guelfa in Toscana.
La terribile peste del 1348 ed il successivo spopolamento gettarono
San Gimignano in una grave crisi.
La cittadina dovette perciò
sottomettersi a Firenze.
Dal degrado e abbandono dei secoli
successivi si uscì soltanto quando si cominciò a riscoprire la
bellezza della città, la sua importanza culturale e l’originaria
identità agricola.
segue su...
www.sangimignano.com
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...From the official site of
San Gimignano
San Gimignano rises on a hill (334m high)
dominating the Elsa Valley with its towers. Once the seat of a small
Etruscan village of the Hellenistic period (200-300 BC) it began its
life as a town in the 10th century taking its name from the Holy
Bishop of Modena, St. Gimignano, who is said to have saved the
village from the barbarian hordes.
The town increased in wealth and
developed greatly during the Middle Ages thanks to the "Via
Francigena" the trading and pilgrim's route that crossed it.
Such
prosperity lead to the flourishing of works of art to adorn the
churches and monasteries. In 1199 it became a free municipality and
fought against the Bishops of Volterra and the surrounding
municipalities.
Due to internal power struggles it eventually
divided into two factions one
headed by the Ardinghelli family (Guelphs) and the other by the
Salvucci family (Ghibellines). On the 8th May 1300 Dante Alighieri
came to San Gimignano as the Ambassador of the Guelph League in
Tuscany.
In 1348 San Gimignano's population was drastically reduced
by the Black Death Plague throwing the city into a serious crisis
which eventually led to its submission to Florence in 1353. In the
following centuries San Gimignano overcame its decline and isolation
when its beauty and cultural importance together with its
agricultural heritage were rediscovered.
The construction of the
towers dates back to the 11th and 13th centuries. The architecture
of the city was influenced by Pisa, Siena and Florence. There are
14th century paintings of the Sienese School to be
seen and 15th century paintings of the Florentine School.
read more...
www.sangimignano.com
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