Volterra Cathedral

The collegiate basilica of Santa Maria Assunta, also known as the Cathedral of San Gimignano, is said to have been erected in 1056 and consecrated in 1148. In 1239 the church underwent a renovation that gave it its characteristic façade. During the Second World War, the church and its frescoes suffered considerable damage, which was repaired by repeated restoration campaigns.

The church of Sant'Agostino is the second largest church in San Gimignano after the collegiate church. It was built in 1280 and completed in 1298. The church has features derived from Romanesque and Gothic architecture, with tri-lobed arch windows and an Augustinian cloister dating from the 15th century.

The church of San Lorenzo al Ponte dates from the mid-13th century. It is Romanesque and consists of a single nave covered by a wooden truss roof, with a vaulted presbytery. From the beginning of the 14th century, it had a small portico on the left side, or perhaps a simple roof, to protect the fresco of the Virgin and Child from the weather. It was precisely because of the popular devotion to this sacred image that it was decided, at the beginning of the 15th century, to build or extend the portico over the whole side of the church, thus forming a real oratory next to it. Both the church and the portico were extensively frescoed at the beginning of the second decade of the 15th century by the Florentine painter Cenni di Francesco di ser Cenni.