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and the piazza is surrounded by houses and medieval towers. There are presently 5 towers onto the square or very near it and the bases of other five are visible on the facade of the various palaces, plus one, the
Ridolfi tower, which is no longer in existence having collapsed in 1646 onto the family
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that runs east to west. The piazza was used as a market and a stage for festivals and tournaments. Originally the area was divided in two squares by the palace and tall tower of the
Ridolfi family, the Piazza dell’ Olmo in the inferior and western part and the Piazza delle Taverne in the eastern
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palace, which divided the square in 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
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side and with the cisterna in the middle. In 1646 the tall
Ridolfi tower suddenly collapsed, destroying the palace and thus the two squares were merged into one, the Piazza della Cisterna.
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Past the access to via di
Castello on the east side, which led down to the original Bishop’s castle, the northern side of the square is occupied by the renaissance
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Guccio
Malavolti whose coat of arms with the ladder is carved onto the stones, and is close to the center of the square.
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The piazza is located at the intersection of two main streets of the village of San
Gimignano: la
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Toscana. Guida d'Italia ("Guida rossa"), Touring Club
Italiano, Milano, 2003.
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The west side is adorned with various towers, like the twin
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Medieval buildings surrounding the Piazza della
Cisterna in
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octagonal pedestal, which was built in 1346 under the
148:(Cisterna) built in 1287. The cistern is capped by a
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144:The piazza is named after the underground
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24:include a Romanesque building with an
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68:(torri dei Cugnanesi) on the right.
132:that run north to south and la via
64:(torri dei Becci) on the left and
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187:43.4674417°N 11.0435806°E
94:visible over the roofs.
90:and the tower of palazzo
26:automated telling machine
211:Piazzas in San Gimignano
192:43.4674417; 11.0435806
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110:Piazza della Cisterna
33:Piazza della Cisterna
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28:set into its portal.
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49:Piazza del Duomo
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130:via Francigena
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73:Cortesi Palace
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41:San Gimignano
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22:San Gimignano
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178:11°2′36.89″E
175:43°28′2.79″N
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58:Arc of Becci
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190: /
124:The cistern
88:Ardinghelli
160:References
150:travertine
66:Cugnanesi
205:Category
146:cistern
116:History
92:Pellari
84:towers
37:piazza
154:mayor
138:Siena
62:Becci
53:brick
45:Italy
35:is a
134:Pisa
86:of
39:in
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