Monteriggioni is a medieval walled town, located on a natural hillock, in the Siena Province of Tuscany - built by the Sienese in 1213 as a front line in their wars against Florence, by assuming command of the Cassia Road running through the Val d'Elsa and Val Staggia to the west.Both Monteriggioni's exterior walls and the buildings within are some the best preserved in all of Italy, attracting tourists, architects, medieval historians and archaeologists.
The roughly circular walls, totalling a length of about 570 meters and following the natural contours of the hill, were built between 1213 and 1219. There are fourteen towers on square bases set at equidistance, and two portals or gates. One gate, the Porta Fiorentina opens toward Florence to the north, and the other, the Porta Romana, faces Rome to the south. The main street within the walls connects the two gates in a roughly straight line. (cfr.Wikipedia)