Discover Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta

The Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta, also known as the duomo di San Gimignano, is the town's principal Catholic church and the seat of its parish, within the archdiocese of Siena-Colle di Val d'Elsa-Montalcino.

It stands on Piazza del Duomo at the top of a wide staircase, dominating the western side of the square. It was perhaps erected in 1056 and certainly consecrated on 21 November 1148, in the presence of Pope Eugene III and fourteen prelates — an event recorded on a plaque set into the facade. It was restructured in 1239 and enlarged from 1460 to a design by Giuliano da Maiano.

Inside, three naves are divided by columns, and almost every wall and vault surface carries fresco — by various hands but principally Lippo Memmi and Bartolo di Fredi, with the Chapel of Santa Fina painted by Ghirlandaio.

The church and its frescoes were badly damaged in the Second World War and repaired by repeated campaigns of restoration. In December 1932 Pope Pius XI raised it to the dignity of minor basilica.

The Collegiata is a Romanesque parish church with a Renaissance east end grafted onto it, and the join is visible.

The facade, and why it is bare

The front is the product of the 13th-century arrangement and is essentially undecorated stone, later altered by the opening of the two side doors and the circular windows. It has never had a finished architectural front, which in a town this wealthy is a choice rather than an accident: the money went on the painting inside.

The interior

Three naves divided by columns, in a manner that recalls the pievi of the Casentino — a rural Tuscan type rather than an urban one. The naves were originally not vaulted; the vaults were thrown over them in the 14th century, which is also what gave the painters the overhead surfaces they went on to cover.

Giuliano da Maiano, from 1460

The Renaissance campaign. Giuliano da Maiano designed the lengthening of the crossing and the presbytery and built two chapels — the Concezione and Santa Fina. The Santa Fina chapel is the most architecturally self-conscious space in the building, and the fact that Ghirlandaio frescoed it — giving San Gimignano its best-known painting — makes the contrast with the Sienese painting in the nave unusually direct: two schools, two generations, one church.

The painted surfaces as architecture

It is worth treating the fresco as part of the architecture here rather than as decoration applied to it, because the building's interior effect depends entirely on it. Walls and vaults are covered almost without interruption, principally by Lippo Memmi and Bartolo di Fredi, in cycles of the 14th and 15th centuries. Strip the paint and this is an austere provincial church; with it, it is one of the most completely decorated interiors in Tuscany.

The most interesting thing about this building's fabric is that it was turned round. Everything else is the normal accretion of a church that kept being rebuilt.

Moving the church, first half of the 12th century

The earlier pieve may not have stood here at all — a 13th-century toponym, Pieve Vecchia, suggests a site outside the walls near the springs of Pietratonda. As the castle of San Gimignano grew in importance through the first half of the 12th century, the pieve was moved inside the town and rebuilt, and that rebuilt church is what was consecrated on 21 November 1148.

The rotation, under the proposto Lamberto (1192–1231)

This is the campaign worth understanding. During Lamberto's long tenure the building was redefined and its orientation was rotated: a new facade was built where the old apse had stood, so that the church now addressed the square through which the via Francigena passed.

That is a remarkable thing to do to a church. Reversing the axis means demolishing the liturgical east end and rebuilding the entrance there, and it was done for a commercial and civic reason — the pilgrim road and the market were on that side. It explains why the facade is plain and the staircase wide: it was built to meet a street, not to compose a front.

Restructuring, 1239

The church was restructured, and the facade subsequently altered again with the opening of its two side doors and circular windows.

Vaulting the naves, 14th century

The naves were covered with vaults, a structural change that produced the painted ceilings the interior is now known for.

The Renaissance extension, from 1460

Giuliano da Maiano lengthened the crossing and the presbytery and added the chapels of the Concezione and Santa Fina. The east end is therefore two and a half centuries younger than the nave it serves.

War damage and restoration

The church and its frescoes suffered considerable damage in the Second World War, and what is on the walls today has been through repeated campaigns of restoration. Some of what reads as continuous medieval surface is conserved and reintegrated rather than untouched.

What does it cost, and is it covered by the museums ticket?

€7,00 full, €4,00 reduced for ages 6 to 18 and students, €6,00 for groups of twenty or more, plus a €1,00 booking fee, valid one day. It is not covered by the €10 civic museums ticket — the Collegiata complex is ticketed separately. Entry is free for children under 6, disabled visitors and their companions, residents, clergy and authorised guides.

What are the opening hours?

In the 1 April to 31 October season: Monday to Friday 10:00–19:30 (last entry 19:00), Saturday 10:00–16:30 (last entry 16:00), Sunday and holidays 12:30–19:30 (last entry 19:00). The operator warns that hours can change at short notice for services, so confirm on the day if timing matters.

Who painted the frescoes?

Various hands, but principally Lippo Memmi and Bartolo di Fredi, in cycles of the 14th and 15th centuries. The Chapel of Santa Fina is by Ghirlandaio and looks noticeably different — Florentine and architectural, against the Sienese narrative painting in the nave.

Why is the outside so plain when the inside is so rich?

Partly deliberate and partly structural. The facade is the result of a 13th-century arrangement, later opened with two side doors and circular windows, and it was never given a finished architectural front. It also sits where the church's old apse used to be: under the proposto Lamberto, between 1192 and 1231, the building's orientation was rotated so that it faced the square carrying the via Francigena. The front was built to meet a street.

How old is the church?

It was perhaps erected in 1056 and was certainly consecrated on 21 November 1148, in the presence of Pope Eugene III and fourteen prelates — a plaque in the facade records it. It was restructured in 1239 and enlarged from 1460.

Is it a cathedral?

It is commonly called the duomo of San Gimignano, but it is a collegiate parish church in the archdiocese of Siena-Colle di Val d'Elsa-Montalcino. Pope Pius XI raised it to the dignity of minor basilica in December 1932.

Who extended it, and what did they build?

Giuliano da Maiano, from 1460. He lengthened the crossing and the presbytery and built the chapels of the Concezione and of Santa Fina.