Towers of San Gimignano
Fourteen surviving medieval towers spike the Tuscan skyline above San Gimignano, earning the town its UNESCO World Heritage status and its nickname 'the Manhattan of the Middle Ages.' Standing in Piazza della Cisterna and craning your neck upward, you feel the raw ambition of rival noble families who built ever taller to show off their wealth and power.
Climbing Torre Grossa
Torre Grossa, at 54 metres, is the tallest tower in town and the only one fully open to the public — climb its 218 steps for a 360-degree panorama over terracotta rooftops and rolling vineyard hills that stretches all the way to Volterra on a clear day.
The tower is attached to the Palazzo Comunale, so your ticket also gets you into the civic museum, where Lippo Memmi's 14th-century Maestà fresco fills an entire wall with gold-leaf splendour.
Reading the Towers from the Piazza
Piazza della Cisterna, named for its 13th-century octagonal cistern-well at its centre, is the best stage from which to photograph the towers at golden hour, when the travertine stone glows amber and the crowds thin out.
Count the towers as you circle the square: the twin Salvucci Towers loom side by side — a reminder that two branches of the same family refused to agree on who could build higher, so they built identically.
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