San Gimingiano

A medieval hill town that time forgot, San Gimingiano had, in its heyday, 72 towers, each built by a family for defense against their neighbors. The plagues of the 14th century killed half the population. Devastated economically, it then fell under the rule of Florence. The towers were ordered to be destroyed. Fortunately, fourteen still stand. The town never did recover, and therefore remained trapped in time, architecturally.

Today it's a tourist trap. Nothing is made here, and nothing much new develops in this little town. Unless it relates to extracting euros from visitors, such as the torture museum (not shown) and the miniature model of the town as it was in the twelfth century. With the picturesque towers and commanding view of the Tuscan countryside It's a mighty interesting and pretty trap though!