Volterra and San Gimignano: Two Sides of Northern Tuscany

If you want to see artifacts from before Christ and ancient architecture, these two towns are where you'll find them.

The vibrant, artsy town of Volterra, in Tuscany, was an important trading center for the ancient Etruscan people. Addie Mannan, Rick Steves' Europe

I’m in Volterra, my favorite hill town in Tuscany, sitting under rustic, noble stones at the base of a palace that made commoners feel small six centuries ago. Bats burst through the floodlights amid ghostly towers held together with rusted iron corsets. These stones have soul. The countless peasant backs they bent so many centuries ago gave to future generations the architectural equivalent of fine wines—something to be savored and pondered in solitary moments like this one.

Volterra and San Gimignano are two stony villages dotting the hills of northern Tuscany. Within a couple of hours of Tuscan mainstays Florence and Siena, these towns provide an emblematic but contrasting look at this famed region.