Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
This lopsided and steeply sloping piazza is located behind the
pieve
(rural church) and is
GOOGLE MAP
in the northwest corner was started in 1375 in the Gothic style and finished
after the onset of the Renaissance.
In addition to being the venue for the famous Giostra del Saracino (
Click here
)
, the
piazza is the venue for Arezzo's famous antiques fair, one of the largest in Italy.
Duomo di Arezzo
(Cattedrale di SS Donato e Pietro; Piazza del Duomo; 7am-12.30pm & 3-6.30pm)
Though construc-
tion started in the 13th century, Arezzo's
duomo
(cathedral) wasn't completed until the
15th century. In the northeast corner, to the left of the intricately carved main altar, is an
exquisite fresco of
Mary Magdalene
(c 1459) by Piero della Francesca. Also notable are
five splendid, glazed terracottas by Andrea della Robbia and his studio.
the crest of one of Arezzo's two hills (the
duomo
was built on the crest of the other). In
the early 14th century the hollow between the two hills was filled to form a large public
park where horse-races were held; it's now a public park known as the
Giardino del Prato
MAP
CATHEDRAL
Museo Archeologico Nazionale 'Gaio Cilnio Mecenate'
MAP
MUSEUM
GOOGLE MAP
(Via Margaritone 10; adult/reduced/child €6/3/free; 8.30am-7.30pm early Mar-mid-Jan, to 2pm mid-
Jan-early Mar)
Overlooking the remains of a Roman amphitheatre that once seated up to
10,000 spectators, this museum in a 14th-century convent building has a sizeable collec-
tion of Etruscan and Roman artefacts. The highlight is the
Cratere di Euphronios,
a large
6th-century-BC Etruscan vase decorated with vivid scenes showing Hercules in battle. It's
in Room 6, upstairs.
Also of note is an exquisite tiny portrait of a bearded man; it's executed in chryso-
graphy, where a very fine sheet of gold is engraved and then encased between two pieces
of glass. This dates from the second half of the 3rd century AD. It's in Room 2, upstairs.
