Three Tiny Towns

Che Bella Giornata!  What a beautiful day we had today! 

In January, guided by the suggestion of our friends, Ugo and Tiziana, we visited San Gimignano, in Tuscany.  The best way to describe it is to say that it is magical, mystical and medieval, all the ingredients for making wonderful moments.  So of course,  it was on our list of “must do’s” this time as well.

It didn’t disappoint and it was interesting to see it in summer, as opposed to winter. The city is walled and like most medieval cities, built on top of a mountain. Our first sight of the city in January is unforgettable.  The day had started off with mist and fog but when we were in sight of S. Gimignano, the sun came out and lit up the walls and the city seemed to shimmer and expand in the crispness of the winter morning.  A collective gasp echoed round the car and we couldn’t take our eyes off  it. It was as if we had been transported back in time and this city was a metaphor for all the stories of knights and castles and derring-do we had read and relived over the years.

The town was founded in the 3^rd C by the Etruscans.  It was a strong city and thus, in 1199, it was able to declare its independence from the bishops of Volterra.  It continued to flourish until 1348 when the Black Death that affected all of Europe compelled it to submit to Florence.

Shields from the 1400's in Volterra. These were on a wall
in the Piazza and were from the old Volterra families
of the 15th C.

The streets and piazzas in S. Gimignano continue the medieval theme, of course, though now they are filled with cafes, bars,  and shopsexhibiting magnificent ceramics, leather goods and alabaster, as Tuscany is the home of alabaster.  I had been wanting to buy some ceramic plates and dishes here after seeing all the beautiful things in January, when I did get some smaller pieces, so after checking out the many shops and their diverse offerings, I made my choice- actually, from the first shop we had been into!

Piazza del Duomo S. Gimignano

I am very happy, when it suits, to assist the economy of any country I am visiting, so after spending the GDP of Italy on some wonderful serving platters, I felt as if I had done my bit for our second home.  The goods, I am informed,  will be with us in a few weeks, so we will wait till the multi-million dollars worth of glasses and the carafe arrive from Murano and then we’ll have a party so we can enjoy using them altogether.

While I was waiting for Bill to buy a gelato from a store in the Piazza, I found a book on Tuscany and read up on some of the little villages around S. Gimignano. I didn’t want to buy the book, which was on display outside a newsagency, (edicola) so I sat on the steps of the next door shop and copied out a few names. When Bill returned, munching his gelati, which had been made by some guy who headed the winning team for the national gelati competition last year (true information here) he looked at the map and said we would have time to see a couple of the other villages, so off we went.

Piazza Monteriggioni

After spinning through the Tuscan countryside for a bit, we came upon Volterra, another medieval town, in the same mould as S. Gimignano, but smaller.  It, too, was quite lovely and we had lunch in an old piazza whose walls were decorated with ceramic shields dating from the 15^th C.

Volterra was a Neolithic settlement and was an important Etruscan Centre.  It had a bishop from the 5^th C but after the decline of the bishopric in the 12^th C the town became of interest to the Florentines, though life wasn’t always easy and there were wars and rebellions against the Florentine rulers who were very harsh.  The town came under the control of the Medici Family in 1530.

We found Volterra to be a much more “open” town compared to S. Gimignano, with trees in the streets and lovely churches that were very plain.  After so much ornateness (is that a word?) in churches all over Europe, it’s very calming to be in one that isn’t ostentatious.  In one of the little churches were the remains of S. Ugo who had rid the local area of the plague sometime in the Middle Ages.

The last place we visited was Monteriggioni. Like San Gimignano and Volterra it is a walled town and was built in 1213 as a frontline town in Siena’s defence line against Florence.  Florence was a bit of a bother in those days, by the sound of it, don’t you think?

  This town was the smallest of all and we just had a walk through its streets and of course, took a picture in the piazza and one of the church.  Here, we could have walked around the walls and had a good view of the countryside.  The shops were selling artworks but other than that, the town was not very commercialised.

Apart from our enjoyment of getting to know the towns, we also really enjoyed the drive through the country, because we took the back roads, much to Kenny’s consternation, as he doesn’t like unpaved areas and narrow ways, but after telling us, in increasingly desperate tones, to “turn around when possible” he gave up and directed us in the way we were going to take anyhow!

The Tuscan countryside is very different from other regions in Italy and Bill says it reminds him of northern Victoria in January/February.  It is very dry and the soil is clay and where it had been cultivated, it was clumpy.  However, any pictures we see of Tuscany are absolutely correct.  It’s all pine trees, olive groves and vineyards.  Although we saw a road sign reminding us that there could be cattle crossing, we didn’t see even one animal at all.  Apparently, there are dairies, because we saw signs for cheese, but we didn’t see any of the cows that make the milk for the cheese.

Tomorrow, we are going to re-acquaint ourselves with Siena, which we visited in January with Mike and Mikaela.