La Cisterna

About this place

Piazza della Cisterna is a piazza in San Gimignano, Italy. It is triangular with a slight natural slope, and is connected to the nearby Piazza del Duomo by an open passage. The pavement is made of brick, and the piazza is surrounded by houses and medieval towers. There are currently 5 towers onto the square or very near it, and the bases of other five are visible on the façade of the various palaces, including the Ridolfi tower, which no longer exists since it collapsed in 1646 onto the Ridolfi family palace. The family palace divided the square into two alongside the short axis, thus making this relatively small area a concentrate of medieval architecture. In the south-west corner, the piazza meets the Arc of Becci,, an ancient city gate. The arc is flanked by the massive rectangular towers of Becci on the left and Cugnanesi on the right.