Hotel Leon Bianco, San Gimignano; San Gimignano hotel

Hotel Leon Bianco, San Gimignano

Hotel Leon Bianco, San Gimignano - this charming San Gimignano hotel is located in the heart of the city, on the historic Piazza della Cisterna, one of the four squares of the centro storico. The Leon Bianco (white lion) has been created within an eleventh century palazzo, now beautifully transformed into a luxurious modern hotel, while maintaining the architectural integrity of the structure. Rooms overlook either the medieval square or gaze onto the city and the countryside beyond (and San Gimignano is set in quite lovely countryside). The hotel has WiFi internet access and rooms have satellite TV, air conditioning, bathroom with shower, safe and hairdryer.

San Gimignano itself is a beautiful Tuscan hilltown, dramatically dominating the countryside around with its array of a dozen and more medieval towers, relics of the 72 which once cut the skyline. Once a major power in early medieval Italy, thanks to its fertile farmlands and lucrative position on the Via Francigena (part of the larger pilgrim's route which leads to this day from Canterbury to Rome) San Gimignano was decimated by the Black Death in the 1340s. In some ways today we have a city frozen in time from then ... it wasn't really 'rediscovered' until fashionable Europeans started coming here in the 1800s. And it would be immortalised by EM Forster in 'Where Angels Fear to Tread'. This San Gimignano hotel is right on the spot for major sights such as the Collegiata church, the old town walls, a host of medieval palazzi, and the Museo d'Arte Sacra.

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Double room from €95

 

Score from 119 reviews: 8/10