Free Guide of Tuscany - Arezzo

Arezzo, the capital of the province with which it shares its name, lies between the Val di Chiana, Casentino, Valdarno and Valtiberina valleys.
Arezzo has an incredibly rich artistic heritage. Among the eminent figures born in Arezzo are the Roman Caio Clinio Mecenate, the fourteenth century poet Francesco Petrarch and the famous sixteenth century architect Giorgio Vasari.  Still, the city succeeds in keeping old traditions alive, maintaining a perfect balance between the past and present. 
Whatever the season, Arezzo is full of surprises. June and September present the Giostra del Saracino (Saracen Joust) and the Arezzo Wave Festival in July is ideal for lovers of rock music.
Originally an Etruscan town, Arezzo experienced periods of splendour during the Roman age and then again in the middle ages and during the Renaissance, as can be seen from the city’s layout and architecture, dominated by a Medici fortress. The focal point of the city centre is the massive, trapezoid Piazza Grande (also known as Piazza Vasari). One of Italy’s most beautiful piazzas, it is characterised by a unique mix of ages and architectural styles. The elegant 16th-century public fountains in the centre of the piazza are surrounded by magnificent buildings, notably that of the Fraternita dei Laici, completed in 1460. The Gothic lower part of the facade combines with a Renaissance style upper part, while the apse of the nearby Santa Maria parish church is Romanesque. This church also contains a valuable polyptich by Pietro Lorenzetti, which dates from 1320, and the facade is decorated with impressive mediaeval reliefs. The church is on Corso Italia, the historical spine of the mediaeval town. The impressive five-storey bell tower “of the hundred holes” gets its name from the before windows.
Farther along, the Via dei Pileati leads to the spire-decorated facade of Palazzo Pretorio, a 15th/16th-century building which was widened in the twentieth century. A little further along is the 16th-century house where the poet Francesco Petrarch is said to have been born on July 20, 1304. The Duomo of San Donato is an impressive building with an attractive staircase in front. This Gothic style cathedral (although it was completed in the 16th century) preserves many important artworks, including the multicoloured stain glass windows by Guilaume de Marcillat (17th century), the gothic arch of San Donato and the famous fresco by Piero della Francesca portraying Mary Magdalene. A short distance away is the Romanesque – Gothic church of San Domenico where Cimabue’s 14th-century masterpiece, the Crucifixion, can be admired. Nearby is Casa Vasari, the elegant sixteenth century home of the artist Giorgio Vasari, which he personally decorated. Going back down Via Garibaldi, t is worth visiting the Gothic-Tuscan style church of San Francesco (13th – 14th century) with its incomplete stone and brick facade and 15th-century bell tower. The church contains the extraordinary History of the True Cross fresco cycle painted by Piero della Francesca (15th century) which has recently been brought back to its former glory thanks to advanced restoration techniques.
The many museums in Arezzo include the Mecenate Museum of Archaeology in the former Olivetan Monastery of San Bernardo, which was partly built on the ruins of the 2nd-century Roman amphitheatre, of which the stalls and remains of the ambulatories are still visible. The museum houses many valuable Etruscan artefacts including the Attic red-figure krater depicting Hercules fighting the Amazons by Euphronios (500 BC), the amphora by the well-known Meidias painter, a large number of coralline or “sealed earth” vases - ceramic pottery made in Arezzo and painted in brilliant shades of coral, and numerous examples of worked gold found at burial sites, such as the Poggio del Sole necropolis near Arezzo.
The Museum of Mediaeval and Modern Art in what is known as the Palazzo della Dogana (Customs Building), contains paintings and sculpture which best represent Aretine, and Tuscan, art from the 14th to the 19th century.
Arezzo is home to some of the finest pieces of 15th-century Italian art: Piero della Francesca’s fresco cycle (an artist who is also famous for his treatises on figurative art and the theory of perspective) inside the basilica of San Francesco is the jewel in the crown of this “cultural gold-mine” and truly unique historical centre.
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The city’s tradition of working with gold stretches back to its Etruscan roots and for centuries has been a by-word for high quality Aretine products. Today this artistic tradition is on display in the city's workshops and jewellery shops. Jewellery is also on sale in the large and bustling Antique Fair held in Piazza Grande on the first weekend of every month. The fair is one of the largest in Italy and its stalls offer all kinds of items as well as the occasional bargain.

Special Events

The Giostra del Saracino dates back to at least the 13th century and is held every year in Piazza Grande. The official festival takes place on the first Sunday in September and is preceded by other displays on the second-to-last Saturday in June: the competition, which begins after the reading of the joust announcement and parade in traditional costume, consists of four pairs of knights (representing the city’s four rival districts) who compete by charging “Buratto, King of the Indies”, an armoured figure on a stake representing the Saracen enemy. The winning pair is awarded the “Golden Lance” which is forged each year by the master goldsmiths of the city.
In September the tradition of gold working is honoured with the International Gold, Silver and Jewellery Trade Exhibition.

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