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Medieval spirit
The 3-star Hotel Leon Bianco is located in the palazzo of the Cortesi-Lolli which was built in the 15th century but with much earlier origins.
In fact, our hotel is an integral part of the defensive walls of San Gimignano which were built in the 9th century to protect the city, from the Piazza del Duomo to Piazza della Cisterna. This is where our story begins, between old shops and the palazzi of powerful feudal lords.
The Palazzo Cortesi-Lolli has welcomed many families through history. That’s why our services at Leon Bianco combine the qualities of a hotel with the warm atmosphere of home. Welcome to San Gimignano.
It was probably this Cortesi family who made significant changes to the building, placing some 15th-century style on the medieval architecture. The walls alternate between stone and brick, and the interiors were given vaulted ceilings, exposed arches, and terracotta floors. This mingling of different techniques and materials bears witness to the long history of the home of Hotel Leon Bianco.
Wealthy and noble families settled within this commercial core of the city. The palazzo that houses our hotel was part of the fiefdom of the Cattani family, wealthy owners of houses and towers, and of the Gregorios, important San Gimignano lords in the communal age. From 1448 to the late seventeenth century, the building was in the Cortesi family, originally from Pavia.
Piazza della Cisterna is one of the oldest squares in San Gimignano. Its name comes from the octagonal well in the center - the cisterna – which was made in 1273 from travertine. The square had been known by other names: Piazza delle Taverne, as travelers would stop here to change horses, and Piazza dell'Olmo, after an impressive tree that once stood here.
This page will describe management of our web site as regards processing the personal data of users that visit us.
This information is provided - also in pursuance of Section 13 of GDPR 2016/679 - to any entity having to do with the web-based services that are made available by Hotel Leon Bianco via electronic networks as from the following address: http://www.leonbianco.com, which corresponds to the home page of our official web site.
The information provided only applies to our web site and does not concern any web sites that may be visited by an user via external links.
The information provided is also based on the guidelines contained in Recommendation no. 2/2001, which was adopted on 17 May 2001 by the European data protection authorities within the Working Party set up under Article 29 of European Directive 95/46/EC in order to lay down minimum requirements for the collection of personal data online - especially with regard to arrangements, timing and contents of the information to be provided by data controllers to users visiting web pages for whatever purpose.
The above Recommendation as well as a summary of its purposes can be found in another section of this site.
Visiting this site may result into the processing of data concerning identified or identifiable persons.
The data controller is Hotel Leon Bianco, with registered office in Piazza Cisterna 13, 53037 - San Gimignano (Siena).
The processing operations related to the web-based services that are made available via this website are carried out at the aforementioned Hotel exclusively by technical staff in charge of said processing, or else by persons tasked with such maintenance activities as may be necessary from time to time.
No data resulting from web-based services is either communicated or disseminated.
Any personal data that is provided by users requesting to be sent information materials such as bulletins, CD-ROMs, newsletters, annual reports, answers to questions, decisions and sundry provisions, etc. is only used to provide the service and/or discharge the tasks requested and is disclosed to third parties only if this is necessary for the said purposes.
The information systems and software procedures relied upon to operate this web site acquire personal data as part of their standard functioning; the transmission of such data is an inherent feature of Internet communication protocols.
Such information is not collected in order to relate it to identified data subjects, however it might allow user identification per se after being processed and matched with data held by third parties.
This data category includes IP addresses and/or the domain names of the computers used by any user connecting with this web site, the URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) addresses of the requested resources, the time of such requests, the method used for submitting a given request to the server, returned file size, a numerical code relating to server response status (successfully performed, error, etc.), and other parameters related to the user's operating system and computer environment.
These data are only used to extract anonymous statistical information on website use as well as to check its functioning; they are erased immediately after being processed. The data might be used to establish liability in case computer crimes are committed against the website; except for this circumstance, any data on web contacts is currently retained for no longer than seven days.
Sending e-mail messages to the addresses mentioned on this website, which is done on the basis of a freely chosen, explicit, and voluntary option, entails acquisition of the sender's address, which is necessary in order to reply to any request, as well as of such additional personal data as is contained in the message(s).
a) provide the requested services and manage customer relations. The provision of personal data necessary for these purposes is not mandatory, but the refusal to provide them implies the impossibility of carrying out what has been requested;
b) comply with the provisions of national and community regulations;
c) for security purposes (spam filters, firewalls, virus detection), the automatically recorded data may possibly also include personal data such as the IP address, which could be used, in compliance with applicable laws, in order to block attempts at damage to the site itself or to damage other users, or in any case harmful activities or constituting a crime.
This information is treated according to the legitimate interests of the holder.
No personal data concerning users is acquired by the website in this regard.
No cookies are used to transmit personal information, nor are so-called persistent cookies or user tracking systems implemented.
Use of the so-called session cookies – which are not stored permanently on the user's computer and disappear upon closing the browser – is exclusively limited to the transmission of session ID's – consisting of server-generated casual numbers – as necessary to allow secure, effective navigation.
The so-called session cookies used by this website make it unnecessary to implement other computer techniques that are potentially detrimental to the confidentiality of user navigation, whilst they do not allow acquiring the user's personal identification data.
This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”).
Google Analytics uses “cookies”, which are text files placed on your computer, to help the website analyze how users use the site.
The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States.
You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.
By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.
Subject to the specifications made with regard to navigation data, users are free to provide the personal data either to be entered in the application forms submitted to the Hotel or referred to in contacting the Hotel to request delivery of information materials and other communications.
Failure to provide such data may entail the failure to be provided with the items requested.
For completeness' sake, it should be pointed out that in some cases – which are not the subject of the standard management of this website – our Authority may request information pursuant to Section 157(1) of Legislative Decree no. 196/2003 with a view to supervising the processing of personal data. In these cases it is mandatory to comply under penalty of administrative penalties.
Personal data is processed with automated means for no longer than is necessary to achieve the purposes for which it has been collected.
Specific security measures are implemented to prevent the data from being lost, used unlawfully and/or inappropriately, and accessed without authorization.
Data subjects are entitled at any time to obtain confirmation of the existence of personal data concerning them and be informed of their contents and origin, verify their accuracy, or else request that such data be supplemented, updated or rectified (Section 7 of Legislative Decree no. 196/2003).
The above Section also provides for the right to request erasure, anonymisation or blocking of any data that is processed in breach of the law as well as to object in all cases, on legitimate grounds, to processing of the data.
All requests should be emailed to:
Although we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the website information, regrettably errors do occasionally occur.
You must therefore ensure you check details and you are responsible for the use of it.
In case of errors Hotel does not assume any liability for direct or indirect damages suffered by you or third parties caused by the use or non-use of the information collected.
By accessing, obtaining or using information, data and materials from this Site, you agree to be bound by these Terms.
If you are not in agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Agreement, please do not use or access our services and inform us in writing immediately.
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Cookies may perform different functions, as a more efficient navigation.
The Data Controller reserves the right to use Cookies, with user's consent when needed, to personalize the different functions and provide to the user a better navigation on the present Website. The Data Controller even reserves the right to use comparable systems to collect information about the Website's users, as browser and operation system used, for security or statistical purposes.
Different types of Cookies
The present Website uses the following Cookies:
Technical Cookies and Cookies serving aggregated statistical purposes
Other types of Cookies or third-party tools that might use them
Here following are listed some of the services that collect or can collect statistics in aggregated form and may not request the consent of the User or may be managed directly by the Owner - depending on their description - without aid of third parties.
In addition, third-party services (eg . Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.) , may track activities aimed to create users’ profiles in order, for example, to send advertising messages in line with the preferences shown by the Web browsing’s context.
How can I disable Cookies?
Most browsers automatically accept Cookies, but you may choose not to accept them. If you do not want your computer to receive and store Cookies, you can modify the security settings of your browser (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox , Safari etc ...). There are several ways to manage Cookies and other tracking technologies. By changing your browser settings, you can accept or reject Cookies or choose to receive a notice before accepting a Cookie from the Website. You can delete all Cookies installed in your browser's Cookies folder. Each browser has different procedures for managing settings.
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Please have a look to our Privacy Policy to be informed pursuant to Article 13 of Italian Data’s Protection Code (Codice in materia di protezione dei Dati Personali).