Talk:San Gimignano

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[edit] Material removed pending sourcing

In Italian medieval walled towns, rich families competed in the erection of high towers, which served as lodgings, fortresses, and prestige symbols (this explanation of the purpose of the towers of SG is romantic BS put out by the Italian tourism industry. In fact, the towers served an industrial purpose; they were built to hang up and dry out the saffron-dyed cloth that was produced in the local area. SG had a tight European monopoly on the production of yellow cloth for a century or so until lower-cost substitutes were developed in and exported from France).

These points should be argued on this talk page, where expressions such as "BS" are perfectly acceptable, rather than in the article itself, surely. Can anyone source either or both of the explanations?qp10qp 19:34, 17 October 2007 (UTC)