Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta (Collegiate Church of Saint Mary of the Assumption), San Gimignano (must see)

The Collegiate Church of Saint Mary of the Assumption (Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta) is also called the Cathedral (Il Duomo). It is located in the Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo), on the site of an earlier church, built in the 10th century. The present edifice was consecrated in 1148 and made collegiate in 1471. The Cathedral has the relics of the town's patron Saint, Geminianus, Bishop of Modena.

The great poet and "Father" of Italian literature, Dante Alighieri, may have visited the Cathedral as Ambassador of the Guelph League of Tuscany to San Gimignano. It is certain that the Christian preacher and reformer Girolamo Savonarola preached there in 1497.

The church facade faces east, its chancel faces west. The architectural style is definitely Romanesque, but two chapels are Renaissance. The unadorned facade is reached from the square by a wide flight of steps. There are doors with lintels and recessed arches to the side aisles, but nothing in the center.

There is a large central ocular window and two smaller windows over the aisle portals. The architect of credit is Matteo di Brunisend. The facade was raised in 1340. The square bell tower is on the north side. On the south side is the loggia of the baptistery. It has an arcaded cloister with columns and a groin vault.

Inside, the church is laid out in a Latin cross plan with the center nave flanked by the two aisles. The aisles are set off by arcades of Romanesque arches on Corinthian columns. The rectangular chancel has a single arched window. The roofs are four-part Gothic style vaults. The clerestory is dimly lighted by small windows.

The voussoirs of the arcades of the Romanesque interior are alternately striped in black and white marble. The vaults are painted with gold stars in skies of lapis lazuli. The geometric vault ribbing is picked out in red, white and gold.

The church is famous for its well-preserved frescoes. The paintings are mostly from the 14th century. They show scenes from the Old and New Testaments, the Last Judgement, and the Life of Christ.