San Miniato was an Etruscan and then Roman agricultural site, as the excavations of the 4th Century necropolis in Fontevivo and those of a Roman villa in Antonini bear witness to. The evidence reports of these findings can be seen at the Archaeological Museum of Florence. The origins of the city date back to the 7th century when 17 Longobard soldiers built a church and dedicated it to the martyr Miniato, according to original preserved documents from the Archbishop Archives of 713.

A story such as this can't NOT be an important artistic and architectonic heritage to this place. From the central Piazza del Popolo one can see the 14th century San Domenican church rich with works of art like the frescoes of Sant'Anselmo given to Masolino da Panicale from Longhi and Berenson.

To the left of the facade there is the entrance to the stupefying Via Angelica, which leads to an underground passage that connects the city to the open countryside wher eone can see the domes of the antique convent.

To the right on can enter the once abandoned but now open passageways to the convent. This now home to the Historic Archives set up by the Napoleanic administration, one of the richest in all of Tuscany boasting over 100,00 documents from the 1200's, including that of the antique Statutes of the old city hall.

Continuing on many architectural examples from the Renaissance are found, for example the Palazzo Formichini with works of art by Guercino, Lorenzo di Bicci, Jacopo del Sellaio, Cigoli and Givanbattista Naldini. Specail appreciation is given also to Palazzo Grifoni, built in 1555 by Giuliano di Baccio d'Agnolo. Down into the valley, pass the octogonal church of the Santissima Annunziata that conserves the relics of San Dorotea, you'll find the Santa Chiara monestary, the nucleus of the museum system with works of art by Cigoli, Deodato Orlandi, Jacopo Chimenti and antique school desks from the 1500's.

In the opposite direction leaving from San Domenico you head up to the old castle center. After Palazzo Roffia, this also being of Giuliano di Baccio d'Agnolo, you double back to the Porta Toppariorum the gives access to the antique defense center. Inside the Porta, there is the Casatorre degli Stipendari, a federician art, today a place of exposition that is home to a military contingent. Or there's the picturesque Piazza del Seminario closed by the other medieval gate.

From the Piazza you head up to the Piazza del Duomo.

Here there are the ruins of a 11th century imperial tower and Piazza, office of the Ottoni and Svevi Priesthood that has been home to a good four emperors of germanic descent. There was Ottone I of Sassonia in 962, Federico Barbarossa in 1167 and 1178, Ottone IV in 1209 and Federico II of Svevia in 1218, 1226 and 1240. Just opposite, the Palazzo Vescovile was erected in 1400 on top of 3 already exisiting buildings. In front there is the Duomo, the antique pieve of Santa Maria built in 1100.

Next door there's the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art filled with numerous findings like a redeemer by Verrocchio and a crucifixtion by Filippino Lippi. Behind, there's the Tower of Matilde, erected in 11 and then attached to the duomo as a bell tower. Up high you'll see the Rocca and the upper level of the castle where, recorded by Dante in the 13th passage of the Inferno, Pier delle Vigne the counsellor of Federico II was imprigioned and left to die in disgrace.

On the incline of the principle hilltop one can see the 14th century mill stone of the San Franciscan convent, that for many years was one the most fourishing franciscan centers of Tuscany. In the year 1400 it was built by the brothers Borromeo and Bernardo Beati, who then later taught at Oxford and Sorbona. On the other side there is the Santissimo Crucifix, a prestigious work of art in the form of a greek cross by Anton Maria Ferri in 1705.

In front of the Santuario there is the Palazzo del Comune with its fresco adorned rooms beneath a 18th century facade and the Oratorio of Lorentino with tablets by Francesco Lanfranchi, brother to Andrea Del Sarto and a wooden altar made in 1527. Going down the hill, through the churches and late medieval Palazzo's, you come to the historical Piazza Bonaparte with a monument dedicated to the Grand Duke Leopold of Tuscany and the Oratorio of San Rocco, an old family chapel of the Bonapartes.

Heading towards the destroyed Porta di Poggighisi, from which in 1530 Francesco Ferrucci conquered the city, you can finally reach the church of Santa Caterina. This church became the main office for the Accademia degli Euteleti in the 17th century and now holds the skeleton of the martyr San Bonifacio and Napolean's funeral mask.