Arezzo is a city in central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany.

Church of Santa Maria della Pieve, Arezzo

Arezzo is about 80 km (50 miles) south-east of Florence, at an elevation of 296 meters above sea level. In 2001 the population was about 91,600 people.

History

Arezzo was founded by the Etruscans. It may have been one of the twelve most important Etruscan cities, the so-called Dodecapolis; the famous Chimera of Arezzo, now in Florence, was found here. As Arretium it was a flourishing city in the days of the Roman Empire, well-known in particular for its pottery manufactures (Arezzo ware, bucchero).

During the Middle Ages, much of its earlier architecture was dismantled to reuse the stones for fortifications. Arezzo was an independent city-state from the 11th century until 1384, when it was incorporated into the Tuscan State of Florence.

Attractions

• Roman amphitheatre and museum
• cathedral of S. Donato with good medieval stained glass
• church of S. Maria della Pieve (Romanesque) the apse of which you see above
• church of S. Francesco with frescoes by Piero della Francesca
• Piazza Grande with the Vasari Loggia
• Medici Fortress

Trivia and claims to fame

• Arezzo has a starring role in the Roberto Benigni's 1997 film, "Life is Beautiful" / La Vita è bella. It is where the main characters live before they are shipped off to a Nazi concentration camp.

• Arezzo is home to an annual medieval festival called the "Joust of the Saracens" / Giostra del Saracino. In this, "knights" on horseback representing different areas of the town charge at a wooden target attached to a carving of a Saracen king and score points according to accuracy. The whole town gets dressed up in medieval costume and enthusiatically cheers on the competitors.

Notable people from Arezzo

Prominent people from Arezzo include the scholar Petrarch, artist Piero della Francesca, painter and biographer Giorgio Vasari, botanist Andrea Cesalpino, poet Guittone d'Arezzo, Pope Julius II, and Guido of Arezzo, who developed the system for writing the musical scale. Arezzo also gave birth to Michelangelo Buonarroti, one of the greatest painters and sculptors of all times, Maecenas, who protected artists such as Virgil and Horace, and the satirical poet Pietro Aretino. Gianfrancesco, also known as Giovanni Francesco Poggio Bracciolini, a famous humanist of the Italian Renaissance, was born near Arezzo.

External links

• Official Website (in Italian) (http://www.comune.arezzo.it/)
• Bill Thayer's site (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Toscana/Arezzo/Arezzo/Arezzo/home.html) including George Dennis's chapter on the Etruscan city and further links
• Photographs of Arezzo (http://www.lodgephoto.com/galleries/IT/arezzo), including the Joust of the Saracens