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Arezzo

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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.

Geography and information

  • Regione: Toscana
  • Province: di Arezzo (AR)
  • Latitude: 43° 28‘ North
  • Longitude: 11° 53‘ East
  • Altitude: 296 m above sea level
  • Area: 386 km²
  • Population density: 237 inhab./km²
  • Frazioni (administrative subdivision): Olmo, Rigutino, Puliciano, Vitiano, Palazzo del Pero, Quarata, Ponte Buriano, Ponte alla Chiassa, Venere, Santa Maria alla Rassinata, Tregozzano, San Giuliano, Le Poggiola
  • Comuni limitrofi (administrative subdivision): Anghiari, Capolona, Castiglion Fibocchi, Castiglion Fiorentino, Città di Castello (PG), Civitella in Val di Chiana, Cortona, Laterina, Marciano della Chiana, Monte San Savino, Monte Santa Maria Tiberina (PG), Monterchi, Subbiano
  • CAP: 52100
  • Telephone prefix: 0575
  • ISTAT code: 051002
  • Codice catastale: A390
  • Italian name for residents: aretini
  • Mayor: Luigi Lucherini (since June 2004)
  • Town Hall address: Centralino 0575 3770

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.

Monuments and places of interest

  • Roman amphitheatre and museum
  • cathedral of San Donato with good medieval stained glass (il Duomo) - Gothic tomb of Pope Gregory X (14th cent.)
  • church of S. Maria della Pieve (Romanesque) the apse of which you see above
  • church of St Francis (San Francesco) with fresco cycle of the Legend of the True Cross by Piero della Francesca in the Bacci Chapel
  • church of S. Domenico with crucifix by Cimabue (founded 1275 e completed in the early 14th cent.)
  • Church of St. Michael (San Michele)
  • Piazza Grande with the Vasari Loggia
  • Medici Fortress (Fortezza Medicea)
  • Saints Flora and Lucilla in Badia (SS. Flora e Lucilla in Badia - la Badia)
  • House of Petrarch (Casa del Petrarca)
  • Vasari House (Casa Vasari)
  • Ivan Bruschi House and Museum (Casa-Museo "Ivan Bruschi")
  • Gaio Cilnio Mecenate Archeological Museum
  • Civic Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art
  • Diocesan Museum (Museo Diocesano)
  • State Museum of Medieval and Modern Art (Museum Statale d'Arte Medievale e Moderna)

Festivals

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, 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. From nowadays, born in Arezzo are also twin actors Cole Sprouse and Dylan Sprouse.

Patron Saint

San Donato is the patron saint of Arezzo; his feast day is August 7.


Sports

  • Associazione Calcio Arezzo (Arezzo FC)
  • Vasari Rugby Arezzo
  • Club sommozzatori Calypso - Federazione Italiana Attività Subacquee - Sez.Terr. Arezzo (diving)
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