Arezzo

Placed on a raised ground at the center of a large basin, bordered by the Apennine ridge and point of convergence of the river basins of the Superior Valdarno, the Casentino, the Valtiberina, and the Valdichiana, Arezzo is one of the most renowned cities of art in Tuscany and famous for its excellent state of conservation of its urban fabric, despite the awkward building development after the Second World War, which “suffocated” the entire historic center. Defined as an “open-air museum”, it is home to a remarkable monumental heritage, including works of famous people such as Guido d’Arezzo, Masaccio, Piero della Francesca, Michelangelo, Pietro Aretino, Vasari, and many others. The urban landscape is strongly characterized by the sandstone rock locally called “macigno”, which gives the monuments (and also the surrounding towns) a recognizable tone. It is thought that Arezzo hides very remote origins, in that its privileged geographic position (perfectly connected to the Padana Plains, to peninsular Italy, and to the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian coasts) has enabled it, where it is located today, to always be inhabited and to be clothed in a role of great historical importance. Even if the scholars place the foundation of Arezzo to the Villanovan era, that which is certain is that it was first occupied by the Etruscans and thus by the Romans under the name Arretium, evidenced in the traces of the Etruscan-Roman wall; to the Roman era date back the few remains of the amphitheatre and the thermal bath-theater complex. In the Middle Ages, Arezzo became a Florentine commune, subjected to alternating political disputes among which the subjection in Florence that determined an extreme variety and stratification of urban forms and architecture; its 13th century heart –symbol of the period of maximum splendor for the city- is conserved only in the highest part of the hill, where the main civil and religious monuments of Arezzo converge and are embellished by 16th century and Medicean additions. The visit’s itinerary can depart from Basilica di San Francesco, which dominates the piazza of the same name: built at the end of the 13th century, the church underwent restructuring in the 14th century in a Gothic Umbrian-Tuscan style; it has an unfinished façade, in sandstone and brick, alongside is a 16th century bell tower; inside there is only one nave, Gothic Franciscan style, and there are various frescoes, among which stands out the magnificent cycle of Piero della Francesca, one of the most important testimonies to Italian Renaissance paintings.
You go along Corso Italia, fundamental axis of the medieval city, which faces noble residences from various eras together with different tower houses. From here, still walking on the medieval paved roads, you arrive at the splendid 13th century Pieve di Santa Maria and then to Piazza Grande.

From Piazza Grande unwinds the Quartiere di Porta Crocifera, where you can admire the important historical constructions, among which should at least be mentioned is the 1300-1400 Palazzo Pretorio (also called Palazzo degli Stemmi), which is home to valuable medieval and Renaissance works and the Library of the City of Arezzo. Certainly interesting is to reach, from here, the so-called Casa del Petrarca, which, even though there are no documents to demonstrate it, is traditionally believed to be the birthplace of the poet of the Canzoniere. Proceeding in the same direction, you arrive at a leveling, on whose summit rises up the already cited Fortress (16th century), realized above a pre-existing 14th century donjon of Antonio da Gangallo il Giovane, based on the father’s design (Antonio il Vecchio). Opposite the Fortress is Piazza del Duomo, where, at the top of the 16th century staircase rises the majestic Gothic San Pietro Maggiore Cathedral, in whose outskirts boasts an excellent view of the entire city and its “red roofs”: built between the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 16th century, it remained unfinished and owes its 19th century façade (decorated by a rose window) to the design of Dante Viviani, though keeping a splendid Romanesque-Gothic portal from the 14th century.
There are many other things to mention about Arezzo – old and elegant buildings, religious buildings adorned with famous works of art, characteristic tower houses- but the visitor is left at liberty to gather and appreciate these things in their entirety. We cannot, however, avoid mentioning at least PalazzoVescovile (13th cent.) and the splendid Palazzo dei Priori (XIV cent.), actual headquarters of the Town Hall, the 13th century Church of San Domenico, and a little further away, the House of Giorgio Vasari (tasteful manneristic Tuscan residence, today Museum and Varsarian Archive), and the 15th century Palazzo Bruni-Ciocchi, which since the mid-1900’s has been home to the important State Museum of Medieval and Modern Art (here you can admire, among else, a valuable  majolica and porcelain collection from the 15th to 18th centuries and magnificent examples of medieval and renaissance sculpture and Arezzo, Tuscan, Italian, and international paintings from the 1200’s to the 1800’s).