Get Married in San Gimignano, Tuscany - Special Days Wedding Planner

Locations

Our locations are a selection of medieval hilltop towns in Tuscany Italy adorned with incredible art treasures and surrounded by spectacular natural landscapes. Our philosophy is to avoid big chaotic towns in order to soak up the magic atmosphere of local villages and charming small towns.
The natural setting of your wedding will be the gorgeous Tuscan countryside, where you can enjoy the peace and the tranquillity of this much sought after region.

San Gimignano

San Gimignano is a lovely hilltop town famous all over the world for its medieval towers. From its elevated position, the town commands stunning views of the surrounding countryside with vineyards, olive groves, and woodland. The historical centre of San Gimignano is a real joy to explore with a wealth of monuments to visit, craft shops to browse, wide selection of restaurants to try and lovely pavement cafes around the piazza's to sit and watch the world go by. The town is also excellently located to reach many other wonderful sights of Tuscany such as Florence and Siena within easy reach either by car or by local bus and train connections via the nearest stations.

HISTORY

San Gimignano takes its name from the canonised Bishop of Modena who saved the town from Totila's invading hordes in the sixth century. It developed considerably during the Middle Ages thanks to the Via Francigena which runs through the town. In the Thirteenth Century, San Gimignano knew its highest splendour, based on the commerce of its agricultural products such as its fine-quality saffron, and there was a remarkable flowering of works of art adorning churches, palaces and monasteries. Its firm economy benefitted the development of a urban aristocratic class who boasted its political power by building the famous towers: in the Fourteenth century there were 72 towers. In 1990, its well-preserved historical centre was registered in the list of UNESCO's World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

MAIN FEATURES

San Gimignano, with its famous skyline, stands on a hill (334m above sea level) overlooking the Elsa valley. The town is located in a favourable central position to explore Tuscany and its most important tourist attractions, such as Volterra 30km from San Gimignano, Siena (43km), Florence (56km), Pisa (80km). The main economical resource of the town is tourism, which has developed related services and local handicrafts. Agricultural activities are also very important and give high quality products such as excellent Chianti and local red wines, saffron, and the local white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, the first white wine in Italy which was awarded the D.O.C. denomination: better enjoyed chilled, whilst admiring the sun setting romantically behind the rolling hills of the gorgeous Tuscan countryside!

MAIN SIGHTS

San Gimignano has managed to conserve 14 of its original 72 towers, and thanks to its unique skyline it was referred to as the Medieval Manhattan. The historical centre is rich of fine historical buildings and churches, such as the Collegiata (Duomo) and Sant'Agostino. The Duomo is considered one of the best examples of Tuscan Romanic style and has been classified third in the top ten of the most beautiful churches in Italy. The inside walls are totally covered with frescoes. Among them, stories from the life of St. Fina by Domenico Ghirlandaio in the Chapel of St. Fina, included in the film "Tea with Mussolini" by Zeffirelli, where these frescoes are saved from being destroyed during the German Army's withdrawal. Sant'Agostino Church includes many frescoes and paintings by various painters among the main Italian Renaissance artists. The Piazza Duomo, in the heart of the town, also houses the Palazzo del Podestà, the seat of the Town Hall, and the Torre Grossa, which stands fifty-four metres high. The main streets are Via San Matteo and Via San Giovanni, which cross the city from north to south along the ancient Catholic pilgrims'route linking Canterbury to Rome, the Via Francigena.