San Gimignano Walking Tour - Part I: Via San Matteo

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Slideshow | Lightbox (152) Tags: history italy san-gimignano scenic-place tourist-attraction tuscany Posted: Dec. 5, 2010 by Serge

Click on map to enlarge. Our itinerary described in Part I of our tour starts at Porta San Matteo (top right on the map) and continues through via San Matteo to Piazza Sant'Agostino. After visiting the church of Sant'Agostino, we move back to via San Matteo and continue to Piazza Duomo. After that we visit the medieval fortress Rocca di Montestaffoli.

Where you start your exploration will largely depend on where you will have your bus (or car) parked. Most visitors will try to park on the southern part of San Gimignano (Porta San Giovanni, Parking Lot #1 and #2) - that's because most likely you will come to town from this direction. If you do not find parking place (especially, if you come with your own/rented car), you second chance to to take Viale dei Fossi/Viale Garibaldi and go around the town to try your luck at Lots #3 and #4. And if you are lucky with a parking spot, there is an opening in the town's wall with stairs that will lead you to Porta San Matteo.

Finally, keep in mind that San Gimignano historic center is closed to cars. However, town's ordinance allows for cars inside the walled part of San Gimignano for loading and unloading your luggage if you stay in a hotel. If that's the case, the only way for you to enter historic center is to use mentioned above Viale dei Fossi/Viale Garibaldi. However, instead of parking, you should proceed to Porta S. Jacopo and use via Folgore di San Gimignano to go uphill until you reach via San Matteo (which can be used to get to other parts of the town).

I invite you for a walking tour in San Gimignano, a charming Tuscan medieval hill town. If you need tourist trivia related to San Gimignano, please see its description and useful tips on our travel ideas section of the site. Same way, if you are interested to learn more about places to eat, visit our page Restaurants in San Gimignano. For this article however my plan is to show you San Gimignano as it is - its main tourist destinations as well as scenes of everyday life on its streets.

San Gimignano is a small town - its current population is somewhere between seven and eight thousand people. The layout of the town is simple - basically it was built along the hill that goes from north to south. On the northern side you may enter San Gimignano through the gate (porta) called San Matteo. On the southern part you can use porta San Giovanni to enter or exit the town. So, the very simplified itinerary may be Porta San Matteo - via San Matteo - Piazza Duomo - Piazza della Cisterna - via San Giovanni - Porta San Giovanni. It is not a straight line but close to it if you look on the map.

In our tour we'll do something similar. However, in addition to simply traversing town from north to south, we'll endeavor small excursions to other parts of San Gimignano to cover it as mach as we can in one day. Yes, I think it's possible to see almost everything in San Gimignano just in one day. However, to enjoy fully the town's architecture, museums and other places of interest I suggest to spend in San Gimignano two or even three days.

From my simplified description of the town's layout, you may have already see that San Matteo and via San Giovanni are two main arteries in San Gimignano where most of the tourist activities takes place. Indeed, this is true. Part I of our tour is dedicated to via San Matteo and whatever we can find on it and around it. Between the two streets, via San Matteo is less commercial and slightly less crowded.

Porta San Matteo - one of the three main gates (totally there are five of them) in the wall surrounding the historic center of San Gimignano, Italy

Close-up on Porta San Matteo (San Gimignano, Italy)

View on Tuscan landscape from viale Garibaldi in front of Porta San Matteo (San Gimignano, Italy)

There are several parking places on viale Garibaldi not far from Porta San Matteo. However, parking time is limited and cars are checked by vigili urbani (city police) on a regular basis.

A street artist selling his art near Porta San Matteo - regular scene in historic center San Gimignano (Italy).	Surprisingly for a small tourist town, political life is very active this poster belongs to the Italian Communist Party (Rifondazione).	Via San Matteo in San Gimignano, Italy - Porta San Matteo is in the background	Hotel L'Antico Pozzo - one of few in San Gimignano historic center
Macelleria (butcher shop) C. Borgioli on via San Matteo.	Even if it is called macelleria (butcher shop), it sells typical Tuscan foodstuff including pasta and mushrooms.	Forno (bakery) Boboli on via San Matteo. Bread in Italy is a real art. I am not aware of any other bakery offering bread in San Gimignano.	Inside Forno (bakery) Boboli on via San Matteo.
La Cantinetta Dei Bati (small wine store 'Dei Bati')	Souvenir shop Store Artista Artigiano. You will see plenty of them in San Gimignano.	Restaurant Il Pino - one of popular restaurants in San Gimignano. It is located very close to Porta San Matteo off via San Matteo.	This shop is called La Grotta Ghiotta (The Ghiotta Cove) on via Cellolese off via San Matteo.
Display with cheese 'resistent' Pecorino - a rather strong Pecorino capable of staying without refrigeration for several days.	This shop on via San Matteo is called La Luna nel Pozzo (The Moon in the Well) sells ceramic art crafts. We will see more stores like this in San Gimignano.	Inside La Luna nel Pozzo (The Moon in the Well) shop. Crafts are actually very good and relatively inexpensive.	While we are moving along via San Matteo closer and closer to piazza Duomo (which is the center of San Gimignano historic center), let's look back and we can still see Porta San Matteo.
Roof eves in San Gimignano are still designed in a way typical for Tuscan medieval hill towns.	Now let us step aside from via San Matteo and visit Piazza S. Agostino.	There are two old churches on piazza S. Agostino. The smaller one is Chiesa (Church) di S. Pietro in Forliano (XII - XIII century). This church is closed to public.	This is Chiesa di Sant'Agostino built at the end of XIII century in Roman-Gothic style.
Piazza S. Agostino (San Gimignano, Italy) is paved with bricks.	Inside the church of S. Agostino (San Gimignano, Italy)	Pulpit, The Church of S. Agostino (San Gimignano, Italy)	Chiostro (Cloister) added to The Church of S. Agostino in the second half of XV century.
Frescos on walls of cloister (Convent of S. Agostino, San Gimignano, Italy)	Cloister, Convent of S. Agostino, San Gimignano, Italy.	The Chapel of Blessed Bartolo, Church of S. Agostino, San Gimignano, Italy.	Via Capassi parallels via San Matteo. No shops, no tourists.
From via Capassi using these steps you can reach via delle Romite that also goes in the same direction as via San Matteo.	Archeological Museum is located in former Convent of S. Chiara on via Folgore da San Gimignano.	Tourist usually do not visit these not very glamorous but still charming streets in San Gimignano, Italy.	Back to via San Matteo - another street artist in front of Church S. Bartolo in Romanesque style dating from 1173.
We are close to piazza Duomo now - shop Antica Latteria on via San Matteo.	Pharmacy on via San Matteo not far from piazza Duomo.	The texture of stone walls on via San Matteo. This was one of the gates (Arco di Cancelleria) through the old wall circuit.	These two impressive towers (Le torri dei Salvucci) at the beginning of via San Matteo dominate the street.
Ricca Pizza on via San Matteo - buy by slice and eat while walking.	There are two public bus lines in San Gimignano (Italy)	And here is the bus - the service is scheduled every 30 minutes.	We are on piazza Duomo. From left to right: Palazzo Comunale (Town Hall), Torre Grossa (Big Tower) and Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta (also known as Collegiata).