Porta a Selci

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Porta a Selci
Viale Vittorio Veneto
Volterra, September 2021

“The gate which leads to Siena, with a simple pointed arch was built in the 16th century to replace the earlier gate, known as the Sun Gate, destroyed when the fortress was erected in the 15th century.” (The Medieval Wall and the Gates, Volterra Online)

San Francesco

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Former church of San Francesco
Via San Giovanni
San Gimignano, September 2021

San Pietro in Selci

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San Pietro in Selci
Via Don Giovanni Minzoni
Volterra, September 2021

“San Pietro in Selci is an ancient church in Volterra, Italy. A church was initially established by Guiscard, Marquis of Tuscany in 1005, and part of the building we see today dates to the 12th century, but sports today a later Baroque facade with statues in tufa of San Lino and Saint Giusto by Leonardo Ricciarelli. The interior contains a painting of a Madonna with Child and Saints by the 15th century Master of Volterra, two canvases by Niccolò Circignani depicting respectively an Annunciation and the Glory of the Virgin, a canvas by Francesco Brini depicting an Immaculate Conception and a painted stucco with a Madonna and Child.” (San Pietro in Selci, Wikipedia)

Porta San Jacopo

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Porta San Jacopo (San Jacopo Gate)
Via Folgore da San Giminiano
San Gimignano, September 2021

Palazzo dei Priori

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Palazzo dei Priori
Piazza dei Priori
Volterra, September 2021

“The city hall is housed in the Palazzo dei Priori, one of the oldest palazzos still surviving in Tuscany. At almost 800 years old it is the province's oldest seat of continuous local government. This lavishly decorated building was the inspiration for the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. An inscription near the main entrance tells visitors that the palace was designed by Maestro Riccardo in the early XIII century. The XII century witnessed decades of violent conflict between the nobility and the rule of bishops. This reached a climate mid-century when Galgano dei Pannocchieschi became the region's bishop. His rule was so unpopular that feudal lords and the town's growing middle classes united against him leading to the building of the Palazzo dei Priori as a symbol of the free commune. This newly formed commune purchased rights for the extraction of salt (the town's main source of income at the time), sulfur, vitriol or sulfuric acid, and alum from the surrounding areas of Larderello, Libbiano, and Sasso. However, the commune soon found itself struggling against the territorial expansion of Siena, Pisa and Florence. The three-story Palazzo dei Priori is built entirely of local stone. The facade is finished with cornices and crowned with semi-circular battlements, probably added in the XVI century. It is adorned with double arched windows and Della Robbia glazed terracotta arms of Florentine magistrates, added in the XV century. It also carries the canna volterrana, or medieval standard measurement of the commune, engraved between a banner and torch holders. In the late XV century, the palazzo became the seat of the Captain of Justice at which point two Marzocco lions, a Florentine symbol, were added to the facade.” (Palazzo dei Priori, ItalyGuide.it)

Madonna in Gloria

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“Madonna in Gloria” (Madonna in Glory) by Simone Martini, 1310ca (Cenni di Francesco, 1413) Church of San Lorenzo al Ponte
Via Santo Stefano
San Gimignano, September 2021

Porta San Francesco

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Porta San Francesco
Via San Lino
Volterra, September 2021

“This gate is also known as the Gate of Santo Stefano or the Pisan Gate as it leads to Pisa through the Era valley. It is the only gate that still preserves traces of the original frescoes painted in the vaults and an engraving of the Pisan canna, a unit of length, slightly longer than that of Volterra engraved on the façade of the Palazzo dei Priori” (The Medieval Wall and the Gates, Volterra Online)

Palazzo Comunale

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Palazzo Comunale (Municipal Palace) and Torre Grossa (Great Tower)
Piazza del Duomo
San Gimignano, September 2021

“The Palazzo Comunale dates from the late 13th century, and was built on the ruins of an existing building between 1289 and 1298. Further expanded in the 14th century, the facade is characterised by arched windows, with the lower half of the frontage built with stone, and the upper part in brick. On the ground floor is a courtyard, which was built in 1323 and is decorated with the coats of arms of those who have held public office in the municipality. The main civic offices of the town council are now located on this ground floor. On the first floor is a stepped gallery from which dignitaries would address the gathered crowd in the square. The battlements date from a restoration of the nineteenth century,[4] and the structure is capped by the ‘Torre Grossa’ (great tower). This tower was completed in 1300 and (at 54 meters) is the highest tower in the walled town.” (Palazzo Comunale, Wikipedia)

Church of San Giusto

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Church of San Giusto
Piazzale XXV Aprile
Volterra, September 2021

“The Church of Santi Giusto e Clemente (Saints Justin and Clement) is an ancient church in Volterra, Pisa, Italy. It is also known as San Giusto or San Giusto Nuovo. For some 850 years, the Abbey of Sts. Justin and Clement was attached to it, and it was administered by the monks of that monastery. Construction of the present stone church was begun on October 28, 1628, based on designs by the architect Giovanni Coccapani, which were carried out by his pupil Ludovico Incontri. The new church was consecrated in 1775.” (Church of San Giusto, Wikipedia)

Chapel of San Bartolo

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Marble altar by Benedetto da Maiano
Chapel of San Bartolo
Church of Sant'Agostino
Piazza Sant'Agostino
San Gimignano, September 2021

“The Cappella di San Bartolo houses the remains of the eponymous saint (1228–1300), a lay Franciscan who died of leprosy. The magnificent altar in the chapel is by Benedetto da Maiano.” (Sant'Agostino, Wikipedia)

Madonna and Child

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Madonna and Child by Mariotto di Andrea, 15th century
Oratorio di San Cristoforo
Via Franceschini
Volterra, September 2021

Church of St Augustine

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Church of Sant'Agostino
Piazza Sant'Agostino
San Gimignano, September 2021

“The interior is a large hall dominated by the seventeen-panel fresco cycle on The Life of St Augustine around the high altar, painted by Benozzo Gozzoli between 1463 and 1467. The altarpiece is the Coronation of the Virgin by Piero del Pollaiuolo (1483). There are a number of other frescoes in the church.” (Sant'Agostino, Wikipedia)

Drago

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Drago (Dragon) by Alessandro Trafeli, 2018
Lungomura dei Pratini
Volterra, September 2021

“Guardiano difensore di antichi tesori e luoghi magici”
(Defender of ancient treasures and magical places)

Sant'Agostino

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Church of Sant'Agostino
Piazza Sant'Agostino
San Gimignano, September 2021

“The chiesa di Sant'Agostino (Church of St Augustine) is the second largest church in San Gimignano, Italy, after the Collegiata. It is owned by the Order of Saint Augustine. Sant'Agostino is an imposing 13th century building.” (Sant'Agostino, Wikipedia)

Church of Sant'Alessandro

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Church of Sant'Alessandro
Borgo Sant'Alessandro
Volterra, September 2021

“The ancient roots of the church seem to date back to a pagan temple, whereas the church was consecrated in 1120 by Pope Callixtus II. Built with sandstone ashlar, it has a simple structure with a beamed ceiling and a square choir. A loggia from the 16th century hides part of the facade, which is refined by three big arches on top of pilaster strips with a semi-pillar. The door to the church is under the central arch, whereas the steps under the side-arches lead to the door itself. On the left side of the building, there’s a 13th-century-lunette portraying a hunting scene over a small now sealed up door. A painting of a cross by a Tuscan artist dating back to the 12th century is kept in the church. There are also two panels portraying Saints Atinia and Greciniana, two of the few remaining parts of the majestic altar made by Cosimo Daddi in the 16th century. A 15th-century-tabernacle is located on the right wall of the presbytery. It originally comes from the Santi Pietro e Paolo church in Coiano, in the municipality of Castelfiorentino, Valdelsa, but is part of Volterra’s diocese.” (The Sant'Alessandro Church in Volterra, VolterraTur)

Rocca di Montestaffoli

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Rocca di Montestaffoli
Parco della Rocca
Via della Rocca
San Gimignano, September 2021

Palazzo Pretorio

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Palazzo Pretorio
Piazza dei Priori
Volterra, September 2021

“The ‘Palazzo Pretorio’ with its humorous additions forms one side of the Piazza dei Priori. The palazzo seen today is the result of XIX century changes after the earthquake when several buildings were joined together and further embellished. In the past these buildings housed the Mayor's seat as well as providing accommodation for the Captain of the people's guard, hence its name of Praetorian or Pretorio. The palazzo's tower, the ‘Torre del Procellino’ is thought to be one of the oldest in the city. Its name translates simply as the Tower of the Little Pig because perched high up at the top of the tower next to a window is a quirky carved statue of a stone pig sitting on a little shelf. A careful observer, however, will spot that the tower has more than one pig. Another one is roughly carved in relief at the tower's base.” (Palazzo Pretorio and Torre del Porcellino, ItalyGuide.it)

San Bartolo

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Church of San Bartolo
Via San Matteo
San Gimignano, September 2021

“Bartolo da San Gimignano (1228 – 12 December 1300) - born Bartolo Buonpedoni - was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member from the Third Order of Saint Francis. Bartolo was born to nobles near Siena and fled home to become a priest to escape his father's wrath. He tended to poor people in the streets and used his income to provide alms to them and to alleviate their suffering while himself contracting a disease from working with the poor and succumbing to that same disease as a result. His beatification received approval from Pope Pius X on 27 April 1910.” (Bartolo da San Gimignano, Wikipedia)

Teatro Persio Flacco

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Teatro Persio Flacco (Persio Flacco Theater)
Via dei Sarti
Volterra, September 2021

“The Persio Flacco is an active opera and theater stage in Volterra, Italy. Volterra still lacked a proper indoor performance stage in the early nineteenth century. In 1816 a group of citizens, including cavaliere Bartolommeo Falchi, cavaliere Mario Maffei, Luigi Ducci, Francesco Cinci, and Luigi Campani, commissioned the architect Luigi Campani (an architect of the Grand Duke Ferdinand III of Tuscany). The theater was erected on the site of the palazzo belonging to Marchesi Incontri. Work began in 1816 and the theater was inaugurated in 1820. The main curtain (sipario) was painted by Nicola Contestabili, who represented Aulus Persius Flaccus, a Roman satirist and playwright born in Volterra, being led by the muses to the summit of Parnassus, ruled by Apollo. This gave the theater its final name. The ceiling over the seats was painted with Venus in a chariot drawn by swans, and the parapets, with cupids, garlands and vignettes, harmonizing with the curtain. All these beautiful decorations were lost with subsequent restorations. In 1820, a group of 60 prominent citizens formed the Academy of the Riuniti (of the reunited), and purchased the entire theater, assigning to each member property of the individual boxes and seats, and this organization has continuously maintained that theatrical activity. The theater was closed for physical repairs for 15 years, from 1984 to 1999, before the reopening, members donated their ownerships of seats and boxes to the Academy. This availed them of funds to pursue reconstruction.” (Persio Flacco Theater, Wikipedia)

Pipe organ

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Pipe organ
Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta
Piazza del Duomo
San Gimignano, September 2021

“The wall of the left aisle had six decorated bays, of which the paintings of the first bay are in poor condition and those of the sixth have been damaged and in part destroyed by the insertion of the pipe organ. The remaining paintings, with the exception of a repainted panel in the sixth bay, are the work of Bartolo di Fredi, and, according to an inscription, were completed around 1356. The paintings are in three registers and proceed from left to right chronologically in each register.” (Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta, Wikipedia)