Discover Palazzo Comunale and Torre Grossa

The Palazzo Comunale, also called the Palazzo del Popolo, has been the seat of civic authority in San Gimignano since the 13th century, and it stands on Piazza del Duomo immediately beside the Collegiata. It is part of the UNESCO-inscribed Historic Centre of San Gimignano.

It was built on the ruins of an earlier building between 1289 and 1298 and expanded in the 14th century. From 1337 it took over from the nearby Palazzo Vecchio del Podestà as the town's seat, and since 1852 it has housed the civic museum.

Rising from it is the Torre Grossa, completed in 1300, 54 metres tall and the highest tower in the walled town. It is open to climb.

Three things are worth separating, because one ticket covers all of them: the courtyard of 1323 on the ground floor, free to walk into and covered in the carved and painted arms of everyone who held office here; the museum and picture gallery on the upper floors; and the tower.

The Palazzo Comunale is medieval civic architecture of the plainest and most legible kind, and almost everything expressive about it is structural rather than decorative.

The facade

Built between 1289 and 1298 and expanded in the 14th century, the front is characterised by a run of arched windows, with the lower half in stone and the upper half in brick. That division is the most informative thing on the building: stone where it had to carry and where it would be seen closest, brick above, where it was cheaper and lighter.

The tower

The Torre Grossa, completed in 1300, rises 54 metres and is the tallest in the walled town. It is square, flat-faced and effectively undecorated, because a tower of this kind in this town was a statement of standing rather than an architectural composition — height was the argument.

The courtyard

The ground-floor courtyard of 1323 is open, tall and narrow, and its walls are the decorative heart of the building: the coats of arms of those who held public office in the comune, carved and painted across the masonry, with a cistern set at the centre since 1361.

The gallery

On the first floor a stepped gallery faces the square. It exists for one function — a platform from which dignitaries addressed the crowd gathered below — and it is a rare surviving piece of the physical apparatus of medieval public speech.

What is 19th-century

The battlements and other elements of the crown come from Giuseppe Partini's restoration of 1878–1881. They are consistent and convincing, which is exactly why they are worth identifying: a good deal of what reads as medieval on Italian civic buildings is the 19th century's idea of the Middle Ages.

The palace was not designed once and finished; it was accumulated over about six hundred years, and every stage is still visible.

Built on something else, 1289–1298

The present building went up on the ruins of an existing structure between 1289 and 1298. It replaced rather than extended, which is why the plan is coherent where the elevation is not.

The tower, completed 1300

The Torre Grossa was finished in 1300, within two years of the palace below it, and reached 54 metres. In San Gimignano, which eventually carried 72 tower houses and kept 14 of them, the comune making sure its own tower was the tallest was a deliberate act: private families could build high, but not higher than the government.

Enlargement and the courtyard, 1323 and the 14th century

The palace was enlarged in 1323, which is when the ground-floor courtyard was built, and further expanded through the 14th century — the phase that gave the facade its arched windows and its stone-below-brick-above elevation. A cistern was set into the courtyard in 1361.

Becoming the seat, 1337

A change of use rather than of fabric, but it explains the building's ambition: from 1337 it replaced the nearby Palazzo Vecchio del Podestà as the seat of the town.

Becoming a museum, 1852

The civic museum moved in in 1852 and still occupies the upper floors, which is why the interior reads as galleries inserted into a government building rather than as rooms built for display.

Partini's restoration, 1878–1881

The last major campaign on the fabric, and the one whose work most visitors mistake for original. Giuseppe Partini restored the building between 1878 and 1881, and the crenellated crown and several other elements date from then. Nineteenth-century restoration in Italy routinely made medieval buildings look more emphatically medieval than they ever had been, and this is a clean example of it.

How tall is the Torre Grossa, and can you climb it?

54 metres, and yes. It was completed in 1300 and is the highest tower inside San Gimignano's walls. The ascent is by stair; no lift, step count or climb time is published by the operator, so plan for a tall, narrowing staircase.

What does it cost, and what else does the ticket cover?

€10,00 full, €8,00 reduced, plus a €1,00 booking fee, valid one day. The same ticket covers the Complesso di Santa Chiara and the Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Ponte. Entry is free for children aged 0 to 5, disabled visitors and their companions, EU Disability Card holders, residents, authorised guides and ICOM members. The Collegiata is not included.

What are the opening hours?

10:00–19:30 from 1 April to 31 October (last entry 19:00); 11:00–17:30 from 1 November to 31 March (last entry 17:00); 10:30–18:30 from 26 December to 6 January (last entry 18:00). Closed 25 December.

Is the museum worth it if I skip the tower?

Yes, and this is the useful answer for anyone who cannot do the climb. The picture gallery holds Coppo di Marcovaldo, Lippo Memmi, Benozzo Gozzoli, Filippino Lippi, Il Sodoma and Pinturicchio, and the building carries fresco work by Memmo di Filippuccio and Lippo Memmi. The courtyard and the first-floor gallery need no stairs of consequence.

Are the battlements original?

No. They date from Giuseppe Partini's restoration of 1878–1881, along with other elements of the crown. They are convincing, which is the point of mentioning them.

Why is the facade two different materials?

Because it was built that way, between 1289 and 1298 and expanded through the 14th century: stone for the lower half, brick for the upper, with arched windows across it. It is the clearest illustration in San Gimignano of a building raised in stages.

Has it always been the town hall?

It has been the seat of civic authority since the 13th century, and from 1337 it formally replaced the nearby Palazzo Vecchio del Podestà as the town's seat. The comune's offices are still on the ground floor, and the civic museum has occupied the upper floors since 1852.