Arezzo

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Arezzo (Latin Arretium) is an old city in central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany. 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 statistical information

Arezzo is set on a steep hill rising from the floodplain of the Arno. In the upper part of the town are the cathedral, the town hall and the Medici Fortress (Fortezza Medicea), from which the main streets branch off towards the lower part as far as the gates. The upper part of the town maintains its medieval aspect despite the addition of later structures.

History

Arezzo may have been one of the twelve most important Etruscan cities, the so-called Dodecapolis. It was described by Livy as one of the Capitae Etruriae (chief Etruscan cities). Etruscan remains establish that the acropolis of San Cornelio, a small hill next to that of San Donato, was occupied and fortified in the Etruscan period. There is other significant Etruscan evidence, parts of walls, an Etruscan necropolis on Poggio del Sole (still named "Hill of the Sun" ), and most famously, the two bronzes, the "Chimera of Arezzo" (5th century BCE) and the "Minerva" (4th century BCE) which were discovered in the 16th century and taken to Florence. Increasing trade connections with Greece also brought some elite goods to the Etruscan nobles of Arezzo: the krater painted by Euphronios ca 510 BCE with a battle against Amazons (in the Museo Civico, [Arezzo 1465]) is unsurpassed.

Conquered by the Romans in 311 BCE, Arretium became a military station on the via Cassia, the road to expansion by republican Rome into the basin of the Po. Arretium sided with Marius in the Roman Civil War, and the victorious Sulla planted a colony of his veterans in the half-demolished city, as Arretium Fidens ("Faithful Arretium"). The old Etruscan aristocracy was not extinguished: Caius Clinius Mecaenas, whose name is eponymous with "patron of the arts", was of the noble Aretine Etruscan stock. The city continued to flourish as Arretium Vetus ("Old Arretium"), the third largest city in Italy in the Augustan period, well-known in particular for its widely-exported pottery manufactures, the characteristic moulded and glazed Arretine ware , bucchero-ware of dark clay, and red-painted vases (the so-called "coral" vases).

In the 4th century, Arezzo became an episcopal seat: it is one of the few cities whose succession of bishops are known by name without interruption to the present day, in part because they were the feudal lords of the city in the Middle Ages. The Roman city was demolished, partly through the Gothic War and the invasion of the Lombards, partly dismantled, as elsewhere throughout Europe, and the stones reused for fortifications by the Aretines. Only the amphitheater remained.

The commune of Arezzo threw off the control of its bishop in 1098. Until 1384, Arezzo maintained itself as an independent city-state, generally Ghibelline in tendency, thus opposing Guelph Florence. In 1252 the city founded its university, the Studium. After the rout of the Battle of Campaldino (1289), which saw the death of Bishop Guglielmino Ubertini, the fortunes of Ghibelline Arezzo started to ebb, apart from a brief period under the Tarlati family, chief among them Guido Tarlati, who became bishop in 1312 and maintained good relations with the Ghibelline party. The Tarlati sought support in an alliance with Forlì and its overlords, the Ordelaffi, but unavailingly: Arezzo yielded to Florentine domination in 1384; its individual history was submerged in that of Florence and the Medicean Grand Duchy of Tuscany. During this period Piero della Francesca worked in the church of San Francesco di Arezzo producing the splendid frescoes, recently restored, which are Arezzo's most famous works, but afterwards the city began an economical and cultural decay, that had the effect of preserving its medieval centre.

In the 18th century the neighbouring marshes of the Val di Chiana, south of Arezzo, were drained and the region became more pleasant. At the end of the century French troops led by Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Arezzo, but the city soon turned into a base of the resistance against the invaders with the movement of "Viva Maria": this gained the city the role of provincial capital. In 1860 Arezzo became part of the Kingdom of Italy. City buildings suffered heavy damage during World War II.

Main sights

Piazza Grande

The Piazza Grande is the most noteworhty medieval square in the city, opening behind the apse of the Pieve of S. Maria. Once the main market place of the city, it is currently seat of the Giostra del Saracino ("Joust of the Saracin") It has a slightly titling pavemen in red brick with white geometrical lines. Beside the 13th century apse of the church, the other landmarks of the square include:

• The Palace of the Lay Fraternity (14th-15th centuries), with a Gothic lower part and a Renaissance second floor by Bernardo Rossellino.
• The Vasari Loggia
• Bishopric Palace, set of the Bishops from the mid-13th century. The interior has frescoes by Salvi Castellucci, Teofilo Torri and Pietro Benvenuti. In front ofthe Palace is the Monument to Grand Duke Ferdinand I de' Medici (1595), by Pietro Francavilla under design of Giambologna.
• Palazzo Cofani-Brizzolari, with the Torre Faggiolana.
• Remains of the Communal Palace and the People's Palace can also be seen.

Churches

• the Gothic Cathedral of S. Donato (13th-early 16th centuries). The façade remained unfinished, and was added in the 20th century. The interior has a nave and aisles divded by massive pilasters. The left aisle has a fresco by Piero della Francesca portraying the Madeleine. Noteworthy are also the medieval stained glass, the Tarlati Chapel (1334) and the Gothic tomb of Pope Gregory X.
• church of S. Francesco (13th-14th centuries), in Tuscan-Gothic style. Of the projectd façade cover in sculpted stone only the lower band was completed. The interior has a single nave: the main attraction is the History of the True Cross fresco (1453-1464) cycle by Piero della Francesca in the Bacci Chapel. Under the church is another Basilica with a nave and two aisles (Basilica inferiore), today used for art exhibitions.
• Basilica of San Domenico (founded in 1275 and completed in the early 14th century). The interior has a single nave with a Crucifix by Cimabue.
• church of S. Michele, with a modern façade. Traces of the original Romanesque edifice and the Gothic restoration can be seen in the interior.
• Santa Maria in Gradi is a medieval church from the 11th or the 12th century, but was rebiult in the late 16th century by Bartolomeo Ammannati. The interior has a single nave with stone altars (17th century) and a Madonna of Misericordia, terracotta by Andrea della Robbia.
• Church of St. Augustine, founded in 1257, modified in the late 15th and the late 18h centuries. The façade and the interior decoration are largely from Baroque times. The square plan bell tower is from the 15th century.
• Badia di SS. Flora e Lucilla (12th century). Built by Benedictine monks in the 12th century, it was totaly restored in the 16th century under the direction of Giorgio Vasari. The octagonal bell tower is from 1650. The interior, in Mannerist style, has an illusionistic canvas depicting a false dome by Andrea Pozzo (1702). There are also a St. Lawrence fresco di Bartolomeo della Gatta (1476) and a Crucifix by Segna di Buonaventura (1319).
• Romanesque church of S. Maria della Pieve

Others

• Roman amphitheatre and museum

• Palazzo dei Priori, erected in 1333, has been the seat of the city's magistratures until today. The edifice was numerous times restored and renovated; the interior has a court from the 16th century, a stone statue portraying a Madonna with Child (1339), frescoes, busts of illustrious Aretines, two paintings by Giorgio Vasari. The square tower is from 1337.
• Medici Fortress (Fortezza Medicea), designed by Antonio da Sangallo the Younger and completed in 1538-1560. It was partly dismantled by the French in the early 19th century.
• Palazzo Camaiani-Albergotti (14th century, renovated in the 16th century), with the Torre della Bigazza.
• Palazzo Bruni-Ciocchi, Renaissance edifice attributed to Bernardo Rossellino. It is seat of the State Museum of Medieval and Modern Art.
• Palazzo Pretorio, which was seat of the People's Captain until 1290. The façade has coat of armas of the captains, podestà and commissaries of the city from 14th to 18th century. Only one of the two original towers remains.
• House of Petrarch (Casa del Petrarca)
• House of Vasari (Casa Vasari)
• Ivan Bruschi House and Museum (Casa-Museo "Ivan Bruschi")
• Gaio Cilnio Mecenate Archeological Museum
• Civic Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

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. Virtually all the town's people dress-up in medieval costume and enthusiastically cheer on the competitors.

• Arezzo is also home to an annual popular music and culture festival, each July, called Arezzo Wave. Publicly funded, it attracts bands of high repute and attendees from all over Europe and North America. It also features literary and film expositions.

Popular culture

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

• Arretium was used in the PC game as the Capital of the Roman Faction of Julii

Notable people from Arezzo

See , which includes people actually born in town; in addition, Poggio Bracciolini was born near the town.

Sports

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

Twin cities

• - Montenars, Italy, since 1977
• - Saint-Priest, France, since 1981
• - Eger, Hungary, since 1989

External links

• from Wikitravel
• [Official Website (in Italian)]
• [Giostra del Saracino official web site]
• [Porta Crucifera's Knights] the official site of the Porta Crucifera quartiere - Joust of the Saracen
• [Bill Thayer's site] including George Dennis's chapter on the Etruscan city and further links
• [ItalianVisits.com]
• [ArezzoWave official web site]
• [Map of Arezzo]