Museo della Tortura
The Torre del Diavolo — the Tower of the Devil — has watched over the southern entrance to San Gimignano's walled town for centuries. Beneath it, in an underground cellar, the Museo della Tortura lays out more than a hundred instruments from the Inquisition era and beyond, most of them reproductions built to historical specification, with a handful of originals dating from the late fifteenth to the seventeenth century.
A single ticket also admits you to the companion Museo della Pena di Morte, a few doors down at Via San Giovanni 82, which traces the history of capital punishment. Both collections are accompanied by manuscripts and explanatory panels — the curators are explicit that the point is documentation, not spectacle. The museum has worked with Amnesty International and the United Nations since its founding.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who've been through both sections tend to say the same thing: budget more time than you think. The death penalty museum down the street often gets rushed or skipped entirely. The reconstructed prison cell in the underground chambers is the detail that tends to stay with visitors longest — quieter than the instrument displays, and harder to shake.
The story behind Museo della Tortura
The exhibition began in Florence in 1983, organised by a private institution that has since grown to manage six permanent museums and three travelling exhibitions across the world. The San Gimignano site occupies the ground floor and underground cellar of the Torre del Diavolo, one of the medieval towers that define the town's skyline — this one overlooking Piazza della Cisterna alongside the twin Ardinghelli towers.
The collection has always framed its subject as human rights history rather than curiosity. The organisation's long-standing collaborations with Amnesty International, the Mexican Academy of Human Rights, and the United Nations reflect that intent, positioning the instruments not as relics of a distant past but as evidence in an ongoing argument.
Good to know
San Gimignano has no train station; take a train to Poggibonsi, then Bus #130 into town. The museum runs daily April through September (10:00–19:00), but weekends only in winter — worth checking before you travel. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing. One ticket covers both Via San Giovanni locations.
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What travellers say about Museo della Tortura
During my trip to San Gimignano I visited the Museum of Torture located near the heart of the old town. The exhibits are intense and shocking but historically informative. You will see original and replica instruments that illustrate how brutal justice once was. While the space is not too large, the museum is well curated with multilingual descriptions. Not for the faint-hearted, but definitely a unique and eye-opening stop that adds depth to the cultural experience of the city. I would recommend it if you are interested in history or dark tourism.
Interesting activity to do inside. There are two small museums, located in two different locations. They aren’t too far apart. We arrived about an hour before close and had the option to see the second one the next day, just had to keep the receipt. We were able to do both museums in an hour.
WOW ! My wife and I were totally enjoying our 2 week vacation in Italy. At this point we were staying in Florence for 4 days. On Monday, March 24th our good friend Martin also our brilliant limo tour driver picked us up outside Hotel Berchielli for a road tour of Tuscany. AMAZING SCENERY EVERYWHERE ! After seeing a castle in the distance and telling Martin I had never been near one...Martin replied we will go see it. We arrived outside the massive walls of San Gimignano at around midday. NOTE ! San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. We walked along the paved paths inside marveling at all the unique businesses. This torture museum looked very interesting !
Creepy, crazy and educational all rolled into one. One of the better museums, very friendly staff, clean, tidy, marked. the most interesting is their basement, which is dug into the rock and where there are still original stone steps. It is possible to see torture devices from different eras and cultures. You will see things and devices that you would never have imagined existed.
They shouldn't have a big lettering in the front saying "museum of witchcraft" when all they have is two or three displays about witchess being tortured/persecuted with cliché historical info that seems like it was written by an edgy teenager. If you're interested in the history of witchcraft, don't fall for the plaque in the front.
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