According to chroniclers, during Lucius Sergius Catillina’s failed coup against the Roman Republic in 63 BC, two patrician brothers, Muzio and Silvio, fled from Rome to Val d’Elsa, where they built two castles – Mucchio and Silva (now San Gimignano).
The name “Silva” was changed to San Gimignano in 450, when bishop Gimignano, the saint of Modena, wanted to save the castle from destruction by the followers of Attila, the Hunnic ruler. As a result, a church was dedicated to the saint, around which grew a walled village later known as “San Gimignano Castle” or “Forest Castle,” because of the vast forests surrounding it.
