Chiesa del Quercecchio (Quercecchio Church), San Gimignano

The Quercecchio Church is one of the area's charming religious edifices and belongs to the Archdiocese of Siena‑Colle di Val d’Elsa‑Montalcino. The church’s origins trace back to at least 1070, as it is mentioned in a donation to the Abbey of Passignano comune, referring to the “church of Saint Andrew called Querciclo”. It also served as the historic seat of the Confraternity of Santa Fina, a longstanding local religious group.

Stepping inside, visitors will find the intimate interior richly adorned with ornamental motifs dating to the late 18th century. The church is adjoined by the oratory of Saint Francis, whose lunette frescoes-painted by Lorenzo Ciardi and dating from the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries-depict scenes from the life of Saint Francis, adding another layer of visual richness.

Since 1990, the Quercecchio Church has also served as home to the Ornithological Museum, housing the remarkable Panciatichi family collection. This assemblage of mounted bird specimens was gifted to the town by a naturalist and malacologist in 1918. Of the original 1,260 specimens, a curated selection of 371 is on display, offering a fascinating overview of Italian and European avifauna-including rare and even extinct species such as the middle spotted woodpecker and the lesser spotted woodpecker.