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17th July 2000 San Gimignano and Voltera
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Monday 17th July 2000
Monday was an early start for San Gimignano and Volterra. The weather was perfect. Sunny and warm. We drove around Siena and then up the Siena-Firenze motorway as far as Colle di Val d'Elsa. If this town were anywhere else in Italy, it would probably attract numerous tourists, but being surrounded by so many other "famous" tourist towns, most would just pass it by. We did. At least we stopped to photograph the top section of the old medieval town. More than any other, it reflects the growth along and down a gully that many towns must have followed when being founded. The building block maze provides a really interesting "town scape". Almost from cresting the first hill beyond Colle, San Gimignano and its towers is visible in the distance 13 km away. Hills of vinyards and sunflowers are descended and climbed again for another view of San Gimignano getting closer, and the towers climbing higher into a clear blue sky. If I am waxing lyrical, it is because I had read so many reports claiming that San Gimignano was a dissapointment and Volterra far better, that I was surprise at how much I loved San Gimignano. For a start, it just looks great with its 17 remaining towers clustered on the hill. It was also helped by the fact that we were early and well ahead of the tourist herds.
We were into the car park and walking through the town gate at 9.30. The main street and both piazzas may be lined with gift shops, caffes and bars, but they are quality ones. Lots of really good quality marble, olive wood and ceramics. The Cadogan guide say "Don't let the prospect of crowds keep you from visiting. San Gimignano handles them gracefully." The crowds continued to grow over the next four hours, and they were correct, it didn't detract from the experience at all.
They say that almost every Tuscan town used to have towers like here in San Gimignano. Some may have been for fortifications, some merely to keep up with their neighbours. Some of the history of San Gimignano suggests that there were constant disputes between family and family alliances. Maybe some of these towers were built to control parts of the town. Who knows? What we do know is that this is the only town left with a good number of them. From the original several hundred, there are now only 17, but that is plenty to make a spectacular skyline, and give you a cricked neck looking up from the narrow streets. Quite a few now have apartments built inside, but only up to the third or forth story.
We avoided the museums and churches. There is more than enough to enjoy in the piazzas etc. The well in the Palazzo della Cisterna; with grooves worn in the facing stones by the rope from constant lowering and raising of buckets of water, and the enclosing towers and palazzo. The Piazza del Popolo; enclosed by the Palazzo del Popolo: one of the smallest but most stunning of piazza. Built in the late 1200's it is a genuine medieval complex with frescoes on the walls of the loggia and covered staircases up to the palazzo entrance. The Rocca: on the highest point of the town, the walls of the fortress now enclose a small olive grove, lawns and an open air theatre for movies at night. Completely unsignposted, screened by trees and shrubs, in the far corner, a broken staircase leads to the top of one of the walls. I am positive that had I not discovered it, and climbed to the top, it could have been a long time before anyone else might have stumbled upon it. Having climbed to the top, and being visable to those within the walls below, I attracted the rest of the hoards, and soon it was congested at the top. It provides great views of the towers of the town, as well as views around the hills to the west, and the vast expanse of Chianti to the north, east and south. At one point, the officials built the communes tower over the town hall, and declared that no one should exceed its height. One family complied, but built twin towers side by side to the maximum height. They are still standing and still make their point.
Ches had a nasty fall as we descended a set of stairs outside the Rocca, when the railing gave way. The guys coming to repair it arrived just as she was picking herself up. Nice timeing. We sat in the laneway beside the Piazza del Duomo while Ches regained her composure, and I apologised for my lack of understanding.
We eventually continued on down the main street to the northern end of town, stopping at every gift shop along the way. We decided to walk down to the northeastern gate, to see the chiesa San Jacopo. This was supposedly built by one of the crusading orders. I swear it will be the last time I give in to the temptation to look in another medieval/renaissance church. It was quite a walk down, only to find that it is closed for renovations. Why no signs back up in town??? We followed the wall down into a gully, with great views up into the centre of town, with town walls and towers making for some good photos, but a steep walk back up.
Now came the serious part. Having surveyed every gift shop in town, we now returned to various stores to buy gifts for everyone at work, and an "attente il gatto" (beware of the cat) for our dog Toupe. He is just a big cat, and he will appreciate the joke. We also bought a bread roll filled with ham and roasted (sun dried in olive oil) tomatoes and melanzani. We sat in the beautifully shaded park outside the southern gate to the town, and had our lunch.
Miraculously, I had parked in the very smallest section of the car park that didn't have a time limit, so avoided getting booked yet again. I have gotten away with murder for three months.
We headed off south from San Gimignano, looking for the road running west to Volterra. As we crested a hill: a prison. In the middle of nowhere, this vast modern prison looked very hot and forbidding. Only a few prisoners were playing on a very bare and worn soccer field. It was now extremely hot.
The vinyards and sunflower fields give way to brown hills, probably of wheat or corn, and I suddenly realise that Voltera stands on top of a hill at the southern end of the plain that stretches south from Lucca and Piza. Later, we could see Piza in the distance from the top of the town. This is alabasta country, and later we appreciate what several thousand years of mining has done for the local countryside.
It is quite a climb to the top of the hill, and Volterra. Probably high enough as to classify as a mountain in Australia. There is an underground car park right at the top of the hill, and just outside the gates to the town. Before entering town, we sat on the wall above the cliff looking north. A strong breeze had sprung up, which was cooling and not at all unpleasant. Eventually we entered the town.
The Museum and the tower were closed. Apparently the tower is rarely open anyway, and the views from above the Roman theatre are good enough anyway.
We sat on the steps of the Palazzo dei Priori, said to be oldest in Italy/Tuscany, while we checked our tourist guide as to just what to see in a couple of hours. Every building fronting this piazza is medieval, and most are extremely large. As most are still public buildings, there are too many cars parked out front and not enough caffes and restaurants to give the impression that it is a meeting place for locals. One has come to expect the central and major piazza in most towns to represent gathering places for socialising.
In almost every street radiating out from the piazza are the most serious souvenier shops in Tuscany. All offer alabaster. We only entered one, and were shadowed all the time by a sales assistant. Had we seen the one figurine that would have fitted our collection of "stylised" birds, they would have had a sale.
The Duomo and Baptistry were fairly uninspiring. The Duomo's interior is painted to look like marble blocks in green and white. It could only have been painted by a perfectionist. It is so geometrically accurate, in every line and angle, that it is obviously not real. Other churches and palaces have used pain to simulate marble: in sheets and columns. The trick is to make it as rough as possible. Not here. The Bapristry is more impressive from the outside, with obvious Pisan influence. Inside, a Sansovino sculptured baptismal font is its only treasure.
We walked down through the northern end of town, to the Roman Theatre, Baths and Palestra. Actually, we only walked to the street above the ruins. The view is excellent, and probably better than actually walking down to the ruins. While they are in better condition than many of the Roman ruins we have seen throughout northern Italy, they are still better seeing as a whole from a distance. The semicircular seating area is still in good condition, however there is little of the stage left. I suspect that it was never any more than a circular or semicircular stage, completely enclosed by the seating. Possibly a paved (mosaic) area. Within only 5 metres or so of the end of the seating, behind where the stage would have been, are the remains of the pillared facade of the Baths. Three or so columns still with cross beams are at the front left corner. For the rest, the outline of the baths is defined by double rows of broken columns in a large rectangle. We couldn't define where the Palestra was (an exercise area).
The highlight of Volterra was the gelato at Pasticceria Migliorini. We sought it out because it was listed in The Rough Guide Tuscany and Umbria. You can't trust any guide. It listed the wrong street number. Via Gramsci 19 (not 24 as they list). It wasn't a disaster, in that we were standing under the shops' awning, looking across the street at number 24 which was a residential address. Didn't take long to figure things out. We both had Choc/Orange, and experimented with the other flavours. They were creamy, dense and wonderful flavours. The best anywhere. We also bought pastries-Sicilian Cannoli for me and custard pastry for Ches. This was a genuine Sicilian Cannoli. Absolutely fantastic. We took them up to Parco Archeologica to eat. This beautiful park is worth the challenge. From Piazza dei Priori, we walked across the main town gate, and then the street winds up and around. Where most streets this steep would give way to steps, not here in Voltera. Just as the calf muscles are about to explode, you emerge at the top. Emerge and be amazed. Here in a mountain top medieval town is a vast English style park. Basically a large lawn with a path winding through the middle on the diagonal, and either side, rolling little hills with large shade trees (and Fig Tree with tantalising yet unripened figs). Kind of a miniature Centenial Park (Sydney) or Central Park (NYC). It may only be 200 metres long by 150 metres wide at its widest, but it still has a sense of space. Even more amazing is that at the eastern end, it runs up against the wall of the Rocca or Fortezza Medicia. This was originally built by the Medici when they sacked the town. It took from 1343 till 1472 to complete. This must mean it was either built in stages, over a long period, or they were undertaking an engineering exercise on the scale of the pyramids. It is huge at 200 metres long, 50 metres wide and walls at various points being 50 metres high. From day one, they used it to imprison their political enemies. For the last 150 years, they have housed the countries most violent and hardened criminals. Every now and then a guard would walk out along the wall, and use his binoculars to scan the gardens.
We drove out the western side of town to see if we could locate the Balze. This is the name given to the sand and clay erosion of the mountain on which Volterra stands. Low and behold, we found it. The secret is to drive for a couple of kilometres out of town. It is a windy road around hills, and it is hopeless trying to look back to locate. We drove well out of town and turned off. As soon as we hopped out of the car and looked back, there it was. As with the "crete", this is erosion on a grand scale, familiar to most Australians. Three thousand years of mining in an unstable geological region has lead to massive collapses of cliffs and landslides. Great gashes have eaten into the mountain, and carried away Etruscan and Roman settlements, cemetaries and the mines that started the whole process. Perched on the lip of one of the great gashes, is an abandoned monestary.
Home by 7.00, passing Monteriggioni on the way. Must go back. This is a small village just north of Siena. It has almost perfectly intact walls, and is perched on a low hill, overlooking the motorway. You don't even see it as you pass by going north, but coming back south, it is a real stunner. The guidebook says that an athlete could run the length of the main street in 10 secs. We plan on walking very slowly.
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