Cultural Travels from Home: A Walking Tour of San Gimignano
Tuesday 22nd October 10.30AM BSTINTRODUCTION
Following our livestream broadcast from Siena Cathedral last year, we rejoin our wonderful Tuscan guide Elisabetta for an evocative walk through the medieval town of San Gimignano.
San Gimignano is a charming hilltop town located between Siena and Florence, lying on the Via Francigena along which pilgrims would travel between Rome and the north. As the town grew in size and wealth, its most prosperous families began to compete with one another in the building of high towers (for reasons of defence but also prestige), creating a distinctive skyline that can still be admired today. San Gimignano eventually fell into decline but its medieval streets, walls and buildings are still beautifully preserved, since little ever happened to alter their appearance. It is precisely this sense of time standing still which makes San Gimignano so special.
We have been given special permission to begin our tour inside the beautiful church of Sant’Agostino, famous for its frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli (currently under restoration). From there we will visit the Rocca or medieval fortress, famous for its panoramic views, passing the Piazza delle Erbe and on towards the Piazza Cisterna. We will take time to admire the majestic Palazzo del Popolo and Collegiata church, strolling along the via San Giovanni and ending at the Porta San Giovanni, the most impressive of the town’s medieval gates.
All bookings will include a donation to the church of Sant’Agostino.
This will be a beautiful, unique and very relaxing way to visit one of Tuscany’s most beautiful towns from home! The tour is interactive, so you will be able to put questions to our guide throughout the visit.
Elisabetta Marchi is a native of Tuscany who divides her time between Florence and Siena. She has been a licensed guide for over 20 years with a special focus on tours exploring the historical and artistic heritage of Tuscany.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
This is a live event starting at 10.30am (UK time). It will last approximately one hour including interactive Q&A. Tune in live from anywhere in the world, or if you cannot participate live, you will automatically be sent a recording soon after the end of the session, enabling you to watch later that day or during the following 3 days. The recording will be available until 25th October at midnight (UK). Please note, the recording is only available to those who have not been able to participate live, and it is not possible to purchase a recording after booking has closed.
Booking closes the day before the event is streamed. Please refer to the Further Information panel below.
Art History in Focus is proud to have initiated the concept of online tours in many major European museums and historic sites. We are delighted to have developed these collaborations which continue to raise important funds for the galleries and cultural sites as well as those working in the cultural sector.
Further Information
Participation
1. BOOK.
Click on the gold “Book This Course/Event” button, fill in the online booking form and pay online. You will be notified automatically by email once your booking has been accepted.
Please ensure you enter your email address correctly, as your Zoom link will be sent to this address, thank you.
The participation fee is £11.50 per person, if making bookings for a number of people please provide their email addresses and book them as separate participants.
2. DOWNLOAD
Download ZOOM once you have booked – please print/download the instructions in this downloadable link and read them carefully. Zoom works best when using Google Chrome.
3. REGISTER
You will receive an email approximately 24-48 hours in advance of the event asking you to register.** This is a privacy function enabling only registered participants to attend. After registering you will automatically receive the Zoom log in link – please keep this safe
** Please note that these details are sent out in office hours, so if you book on a weekend you may not receive them until Monday. You must register with the same name that you have booked under, otherwise you may not be able to watch. If you have not received your email confirmations, please check your ‘deleted items’ and ‘junk mail’ folders or click here for advice.
4. JOIN
Join the event up to ten minutes before it is scheduled to start, to ensure everything is working.
If you are not able to watch the event at the time it is live-streamed, you can watch on catch up. Just book online as normal and you will be contacted soon after the event with instructions on how to access the recording. This will be available to watch on catch up later that evening and for the following 3 days. You do not need to advise us if you can’t participate live, don’t worry! Please note, the recording is only available to those who have not been able to participate live, and it is not possible to purchase a recording after booking has closed.
Bookings close the day before the event is streamed.
Please refer to our Terms and Conditions for booking this event. We regret that we are unable to offer technical support with Zoom but tips can be found in the attachment. If you would like to book more than one event, please book separately for each event that you would like to attend, thank you. If you are booking for more than one person, it is important that you include their email address so that we can send them the lecture link too. We regret we are unable to offer refunds but don’t worry if you are not able to attend, as we will send you the recording link.