 Situated about 50 minutes from the guest house.
San Gimignano stands on a site that was certainly inhabited by the Etruscans, from the third century BC at least, as demonstrated by the numerous archaeological finds (particularly tombs) in the surrounding area.
The first mention of it dates back to the year 929 and it is cited at the end of the tenth century in relation to the Via Francigena, the main connecting route between northern Europe and Rome, by the archbishop Segerico who noted the “village” as an intersection with the road between Pisa and Siena. Legend has it that its name derives from the holy bishop of Modena, believed to have defended the village from occupation by Attila the Hun.
San Gimignano is most famous for the fifteen or so medieval towers that still dominate the landscape, earning it the nickname “Medieval Manhattan”.
The city centre is spread over the main roads of Via San Giovanni and Via San Matteo which converge in the two adjoining squares, Piazza della Cisterna and Piazza del Duomo. The northern part of the town is crossed by Via Folgore and its focal point is Piazza Sant’Agostino.
 San Gimignano is a small agricultural town famous for the Vernaccia vine growing and wine production and for the cultivation of saffron. San Gimignano Vernaccia is one of the finest white wines and is produced in a small area of Tuscany between Siena, Pisa and Florence in the municipal territory of San Gimignano. It is known and esteemed all over the world and was the first Italian wine to receive the DOC (Controlled Denomination of Origin) quality mark in 1966.
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