Monteriggioni
We got to Monteriggioni about 3 hours into our adventure and were greeted with quite a site: a very small, quaint, non-touristed (relatively) medieval town. Monteriggioni, like all medieval towns, is organized around a town square. It is special in that it never really expanded like many medieval towns did, so it still has the size and feel it would have had 800 years ago.The one "tourist trap" in Monteriggioni is the 1.50 euro ticket to climb a small section of the town wall they've adorned with a catwalk. It allows pretty good views of the city and amazing views of the surrounding countryside. Many of these "walled towns" are located on hilltops so they have great 360 panoramas. Here's about a 90 degree panorama.
We affectionatly call Monterigginoni "the town that time forgot".San Giminano
This town definitely had a different feel than Monteriggioni. A little more touristy and a lot bigger, this, in some ways, felt a little like the "Disneyland" medieval city. Even so, it was amazing to see the old buildings, feel the various town squares and centers, and to climb the massive hill to get the most amazing and incredible view of the surrounding valleys.One of the most amazing things about San Giminano is that they have preserved 17 of almost 70 medieval family towers and put them on display for the public to see. In medieval times, many powerful families would build towers to signify their power and wealth. Because many of these families eventually fell into "disrepair" or moved on to greener pasteurs, many of these towers have been dismantled and the materials have been re-used in different ways throughout history. To still have 17 of these towers intact in San Giminano was a real treat...a lot more exciting than photos! (Although, of course, you should still feel very excited about my photos ;-))
Something I haven't yet mentioned that I feel I have to are the materials these buildings are made of. Of course, they are primarily made of stone, brick and wood. But the most amazing thing about them is than many are made of a potpourri of these materials. Here is an example from Monteriggioni:
It seems when these walls were built, they just grabbed whatever materials were around them and threw them into the same wall. What a situation!
Lucca
By far my favorite medieval town we visited this past weekend was Lucca; our "final" destination for the class trip and launching point for many people to go elsewhere for a day in Italy. Lucca is very special in the world of medieval towns in that they have almost completely preserved their original city wall, maintaining it throughout history. The wall around the central part of the city has now been adapted with a bike path that circumnavigates the entire city at the top part of the wall, offering amazing views of the former "moat" and providing a dynamic interaction point for the citizens of Lucca and tourists alike. Sunday morning Carin and I rented bicycles and rode around the entire central city, stopping half way through at the train station to check schedules for our next stop.
Before going to dinner Saturday night a group of us sat on the top of the wall in Lucca and enjoyed sharing a bottle of wine, watching the sun set over a beautiful and comfortably breezy Italian evening. This was one of my highlights in the trip so far, simply for its peacefulness and lack of polution, noise or tourists. Shear enjoyment.Pisa
Sunday we were given a "free" day by Alison (our professor) and Carin and I chose to spend the morning in Lucca riding bikes. In the afternoon, we took a train to Pisa and stayed overnight there until Monday, at which time we came back to Rome. Because I have a couple of "slow" days for cool stuff coming up, and I'm kind of tired right now, I'm going to tell you a little more about Pisa tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed our mini-tour of the medieval towns of Italia! Ciao!
No comments:
Post a Comment