Porta San Matteo - San Gimignano - Tuscany

Porta San Matteo, reached by the main road, is more typical of San Gimignano. The Via San Matteo takes its name from this gate.

The road was the section of the Francigena that ran through the city from north to south. Little by little an entire neighborhood grew around this road. The buildings that still stand today are almost all from the 13th century and offer a fascinating glimpse of the city as it would have looked in the Middle Ages.

The Porta di San Matteo was built in 1262 in Sienese style. After the passage, a fascinating tour of houses, palazzos and medieval towers awaits you. Along Via di San Matteo are the magnificent Pesciolini house-tower, a couped tower from the thirteenth century; the beautiful Chiesa di San Bartolo; the Cancelleria Palazzo; the Torri Gemelle dei Salvucci; to finally arrive at Piazza della Cisterna.

Willem Vandenameele