Monteoliveto

Now that we have explored and visited the bigger sites in town, today we decided to check out the San Gimignano 1300 museum. Created by Michelangelo and Raffaello Urbino and a team of artisans and historians, San Gimignano 1300 is a large and very detailed miniature reconstruction of medieval San Gimignano made out of ceramics. Based on how the town would have appeared in the year 1300, the city was at the height of its development and the display shows its 72 towers.

Photographs do not really show the level of detail of this 1:100 scale reproduction. The miniature reproduction is completely made in clay, baked one time and then painted using natural pigments. Over a ton of clay from nearby Montelupo was used to create this work of art. Countless hours of intense historical, architectural and technical research was involved before actual construction could begin, a project that required over 20,000 hours of work by several ceramic artists.

As stated on their website “ San Gimignano 1300 is a museum, an exhibition, a journey through time, it is art, history, research, it is a magical vision of towers, squares, palaces, of shops, of people, of faith, it is the instinct to do, to build , learning is hard work, it's hard work, it's joy and memories, it's the desire to exalt this incredible medieval city, a living testimony of tradition, culture and civilization.

San Gimignano 1300 is dedicated to San Gimignano and its inhabitants, to Tuscany, to Unesco, to all its friends in the world and above all to those who always look upwards.”Read more