Travel Photography Photos tagged as (tuscany
The town is also known as the "Manhattan of the Middle Ages". Competing families tried to build the highest campanile to impress each other.
Here the plague raged in 1464 and 1631, starting a period of decadence for the town: the town-walls fell to pieces, the Medieval mansions fell into disrepair and no one had enough money to stop all this, as the richest and most important families had left the town because of the plague. Consequently, the architectural and artistic heritage remained untouched for four centuries, and the town preserved its medieval characteristic architecture intact.
San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in Tuscany, Italy, about a 35-minute drive northwest of Siena or southwest of Florence. It is mainly famous for its medieval architecture, especially its towers, which may be seen from several miles outside the town.