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Address Monteriggioni Castello
The walled village of Monteriggioni develops within its ring of walls and it is divided by a main road that crosses the main square (Piazza Dante Alighieri) passing through the Franca or Romea Gate (facing Siena) and leads to the San Giovanni or Fiorentina Gate (facing Elsa Valley).
Inside the fortified hamlet there are some cisterns that in ancient times were used to collect rainwater; in the main square there is a huge water reservoir.
The walls and the fourteen towers give Monteriggioni its characteristic structure. The walls must have made a great impression in the medieval period too, since they inspired Dante to mention them in a famous comparison with the Giants in hell:
“[…] because as on its circular parapets / Montereggione crowns itself with towers, / E'en thus the margin which surrounds the well / With one half of their bodies turreted / The horrible giants […]
(Inf., XXXI, 40-44)
