AREZZO: YOUR ETRUSCAN SOJOURN
Remember the exquisite Roberto Benigni film Life is Beautiful (La Vita è Bella) for which the actor-director won an Oscar in 1998? Did you know that Arezzo is the town in which the main characters live before the Germans arrest them? Well now you do, so perhaps you’ll go back and watch the film to catch glimpses of what is one of Tuscany’s most beautiful medieval towns, with a strong link to Italy’s Etruscan past.
Arezzo is also famous as the birthplace of some of Italy’s most celebrated sons such as Piero della Francesca, the painter; Petrarch, the poet; and Giorgio Vasari, the painter, architect, and biographer. Today, Arezzo is one of Italy’s most preferred destinations, thanks to a thriving tourism industry and hotels that suit all pockets. More and more tourists around the world are discovering such wonderful things about Arezzo as its cuisine, among which we list the Acquacotta, a bread soup made with porcini mushrooms and Ribollita, a bread soup made with different vegetables. Then there is the superb Chianina Steak and every kind of pasta. Arezzo’s wines are also celebrated the world over.
Just about 80 km southeast of Florence (Firenze), Arezzo is set on a steep hill that rises from the floodplain of River Arno. The upper part of the town, which retains all its medieval charm, has the cathedral, town hall, and Medici Fortress (Fortezza Medicea). From here, the main streets branch off towards the lower half of the town as far as the gates.
If you do only one thing in Arezzo, you must visit Piazza Grande, the town’s beautiful square, which hosts the Giostra del Saracino twice a year. Yet another fascinating place is the Casa del Petrarca, the home of Petrarch, which you can enter if the proprietor allows it, and every minute you spend inside is worth it. Of course, there are quite a few cathedrals and museums that you ought to take in.
On the third Sunday of June and the first Sunday of September, Arezzo hosts the annual medieval festival called the Joust of the Saracens (Giostra del Saracino), in which “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. An event not to be missed.
Accommodation in Arezzo is as varied as it is abundant. We list hotels, bed & breakfasts, apartments, inns, converted castles, villas, and farmhouses in and around Arezzo proper.
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