San Gim has much to offer travelers like Vernaccia di San Gimignano (a famous white wine),…read moreCinghiale (wild boar salami) and breathtaking views from one of its fourteen towers. Just admire how M.C. Escher saw the city -- http://www.mcescher.com/Gallery/ital-bmp/LW96.jpg It also has a dark and sordid history as a hub for prosecuting and punishing those deemed heretics by the Roman Inquisition. Some of the common charges included practicing homosexuality, promiscuity, Protestantism and Judaism. The museum that houses the tools of the torment trade was an optional excursion during my tour but I'd have rather died than miss it. Here are some of the grisly gadgets I saw -- Guillotine. A true classic I've actually considered installing a small one in my kitchen, because I want to start the deliberate and systematic destruction of a particular group of plants...lettuce. When compared to arugula or radichetta, it's an inferior race of leafy green vegetable. Just thinking about it makes me want to hum my assassin's anthem, Heads Will Roll by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Iron Maiden. An 80's hair metal band or a torture device meant to look like a sculpture. You can host a dinner party and no one would know you're also doing your sacred duty of punishing the wicked. Don't worry the victim's screams won't spoil the meal, it's completely soundproof. Once the guests have left you can open one side and have a peek at the damage the steel-spiked interior has done. Unfortunately by then the accused may have passed out due to the intense claustrophobia the maiden of Nuremberg was designed to induce. Judas Cradle. Get busted for crimes against the church and you'll get placed on a wooden triangular apparatus named for Jesus' betrayer. If you were lucky on your chest or back, if your jailer was having a particularly bad day...you'd be forced to sit on it while the Judas Priests strapped heavy weights to your ankles and left gravity do their dirty work. http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljq9cmVgFQ1qaod4yo1_500.jpg Pear of Anguish. A spreading caliper of pain that opens in four directions with a locking mechanism to hold it in place in the prisoner's mouth, vagina or rectum. It was often used in this fashion -- Inquisitor, "What do you say we take a break from all this thumb-screw business I'm famished. Would you like a pear?" Alleged Blasphemer, "Oh yes. I'm so nauseous and in terrible pain, mercy...please!" Inquisitor, "OK but since you're in cuffs I have to feed it to you, open real wide." http://www.kinkcraft.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/pear-03.jpg Obviously someone didn't know the unwritten rule, never accept anything from an executioner, they're known to have notoriously cruel senses of humor. The detainees at Gitmo don't know how good they've got it; I'll take barking German Shepherds and waterboarding any day over the tamest device of displeasure they keep in this joint. Admission is €12/7/5 for adults, children, and groups respectively which is double or triple the price of most institutions in Italy, but I doubt this museum has much philanthropy. You can't really have a press conference with a giant cardboard check that says "Torture Museum" on it when they're a so many kids with leukemia in the world. At the time I was ready to poke my own eyes out if a saw another damn fresco or architectural marvel and it was a welcome off the beaten path distraction. I recommend it and so does the Wu-Tang Clan. They stopped at St. Gimmy's Museo della Tortura during the first leg of their European tour, which inspired this skit -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnYsAeqUzUc

We were walking through San Gimignano and saw this museum. We went in and purchased tickets. $34…read morefor 4 of us. You get two museums for the price of one. They are within walking distance. Plenty of old torture devices to see. Pretty cool if you are into medieval memorabilia. There is a cool basement cellar area. It's worth the trip while there. It's a quick walk through.

We were on a tour and drove to San Gimignano, an Italian hill town in Tuscany, southwest of…read moreFlorence. Encircled by 13th-century walls, its old town centers on Piazza della Cisterna, a triangular square lined with medieval houses. It has a skyline of medieval towers, including the stone Torre Grossa. The Duomo di San Gimignano is a 12th-century church with frescoes by Ghirlandaio in its Santa Fina Chapel so it was well worth taking a few moments to visit this gorgeous church. This inside is surrounded with statues of Saints and altars with furnishings of gold and silver. It is an absolute must if you intend to visit.

Great church at Medieval town. This church is part of the museum. This church is a gem in Tuscany…read moreItaly. The church good charm due to the great painting in the church. It was painted in the 13th century. The church also call the Collegiate Church. The church originally build in 10th century. At 13 century it was rebuilt and expand to current big building. The wall painting is the best of the church to tell the story of Christ. The wall painting includes the crucifixion, last supper, Good Friday and more. They are detail painted. Some of the wall paints faded due to long history on the wall. This church has pipe organ and side chapel. The columns and ceilings are well decorated. It is a small church that good for this medieval town. It is renaissance style church with a lot of Arch.

This museum includes the church. There is a path link to the Torre Grossa. The museum has good…read moreFleming Style art. A lot of Christian symbol painting at the museum. The museum is low light but you can see everything there. The museum is tiny. I think 30 minutes is enough. It is on the south side of the of the Duomo. Next to tower. I would said it ok visit since I have combo ticket. Lippo Memmi's Maestà in the Sala di Dante is at the chamber reception room. This drawing on the wall show Mary sit on the throne and surround by the saint and angel. One of the room painting by the Florentine and the other by Maestra who paint the Assisi wall. This painting is 13 century. It is great to see different expressions of different painter.