Combo Ticket Civic Museums of San Gimignano

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Located south of Florence on the way to Siena, beautiful medieval San Gimignano with its splendid skyline of thirteen towers is often called “the Manhattan of the Middle Ages.” The 11th century walled town rises 334 meters above the Elsa Valley along the ancient Via Francigena, the merchants’ and pilgrims’ traveling route towards Rome, and has been included on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites. The picturesque winding streets are filled with many shops that sell local products including San Gimignano’s delicious white Vernaccia wine, stunning ceramics, and artisan leather goods and linens. Get to know the San Gimignano civic museums to complete your visit of the medieval jewel in the best of ways!

Palazzo Comunale, Pinacoteca, Torre Grossa

The Palazzo Comunale, also known as the Palazzo del Popolo or Palazzo Nuovo del Podestà, is located in Piazza del Duomo alongside the Cathedral, or Collegiata, and is the historical venue of all six of the Civic Museums of San Gimignano.

The first floor is the location of the Sala del Consiglio (Council Room), also known as the Sala Dante, so called in honor of the Florentine poet's visit in 1299 as the ambassador of the Guelph League. The room exhibits a famous, late thirteenth-century fresco cycle (about 1290) depicting knights engaged in tournaments and hunting scenes dedicated to Charles of Anjou who is depicted enthroned on the wall opposite the entrance, as several persons render homage to him with the gift of a falcon. The paintings are attributed to Florentine painter Azzo di Masetto. On the right wall is the Madonna in Maestà (the enthroned Madonna with the child) that Lippo Memmi painted in 1317. A painter of the Sienese school, Lippo Memmi was a follower of Simone Martini and was active during the first half of the 14^th century. The fresco was inspired by the Maestà Simone Martini had painted in the Palazzo Pubblico of Siena two years earlier, in the year 1315.

The second floor is the location of the Chamber of the Podestà, a high official in many Italian cities during the late Middle Ages. The room is entirely frescoed with a unique narration presenting love scenes, in addition to a series of moral precepts addressed to the Podestà who is entreated not to give into corruption. Executed in the early 1330s, the frescoes are attributed to Memmo di Filippuccio, father of Lippo Memmi.

The second floor of the Palace is also the location of the Pinacoteca, an art museum that offers an exquisite artistic itinerary characterized by the extraordinary presence of Sienese and Florentine painters who succeeded one another in creating works of art of inestimable value from the 13^th through the 15^th century. Among them, Filippino Lippi who authored a pair of tondos (circular paintings) depicting the annunciation, Benozzo Gozzoli, Benedetto da Maiano and Pinturicchio.

Next to the Palace is the splendid Torre Grossa, completed in 1311, the tallest tower in the city from which you'll enjoy a unique and unforgettable view.

The lower floor of the museum complex houses the Archaeological Museum and the Spezieria dello Spedale di Santa Fina (the hospital apothecary of Santa Fina), while the second floor is the location of the Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art named after the 20^th century painter Raffaele De Grada.

Archaeological Museum

The Archaeological Museum exhibits finds from the territory of San Gimignano dating to the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval epochs. The exhibits are divided into two sections – one to Etruscan-Roman art with artefacts found in the surrounding territory and dating from the 7^th to the 1^st century B.C., while the other section is reserved to artisanal production activities, such as glass and ceramics, evidence of which was recorded in the city during the Middle Ages.

The Hospital Apothecary of Santa Fina

This room exhibits a collection of apothecary vessels made between the 15^th and 18^th centuries, in addition to glass containers from the apothecary of the Hospital founded in 1253, which can be dated between the 16^th and 18^th centuries. In medieval Florence, the term Spezieria indicated the guild of physicians and pharmacists, called spicers, which was one of the city's seven major guilds. Today's layout recalls the look of an ancient apothecary, which was divided into an area where medicinal preparations were sold, and the area where they were made.

Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art “Raffaele De Grada”

The Gallery is named after Milanese painter Raffaele De Grada (Milan, 1885-1957) and holds numerous paintings by this artist who chose San Gimignano as his home. De Grada was part of the Novecento Italiano art movement and well-known for his subtle Tuscan landscape paintings. The permanent collection also includes works by twentieth-century painters such as Niccolò Cannicci, Renato Guttuso, Sergio Vacchi, Ugo Nespolo, Marco Gastini, and Carmelo Zotti.