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Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and '' comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. As of 2022, the population was about 97,000.

Known as the city of gold and of the high fashion, Arezzo was home to artists and poets such as Giorgio Vasari, Guido of Arezzo and Guittone d'Arezzo and in its province to Renaissance artist Michelangelo. In the artistic field, the city is famous for the frescoes by Piero della Francesca inside the Basilica of San Francesco, and the crucifix by Cimabue inside the Basilica of San Domenico. The city is also known for the important Giostra del Saracino, a game of chivalry that dates back to the Middle Ages.

History

Described by Livy as one of the ''Capita Etruriae'' (Etruscan capitals), Arezzo (''Aritim'' in Etruscan) is believed to have been one of the twelve most important Etruscan cities—the so-called Dodecapolis, part of the Etruscan League. Etruscan remains establish that the acropolis of San Cornelio, a small hill next to that of San Donatus, 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 BC) and the "Minerva" (4th century BC) 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 c. 510 BC depicting a battle against Amazons (in the Museo Civico
Arezzo 1465
is unsurpassed.

Conquered by the Romans in 311 BC, ''Arretium'' became a military station on the via Cassia, the road by which Rome expanded into the basin of the Po. Arretium sided with Marius (157 – 86 BC) in the Roman Civil War, and the victorious Sulla ( 138 – 78 BC) planted a colony of his veterans in the half-demolished city, as ''Arretium Fidens'' ("Faithful Arretium"). The old Etruscan aristocracy was not extinguished: Gaius Cilnius Maecenas, whose name has become eponymous with "patron of the arts", came 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).

Around 261 AD the town council of Arezzo dedicated an inscription to its patron L. Petronius Taurus Volusianus. See that article for discussion of the possible political/military significance of Volusianus's association with the city.

In the 3rd to 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 the bishops operated as the feudal lords of the city in the Middle Ages. The Roman city was demolished, partly in the course of the Gothic War and of the late-6th-century invasion of the Lombards, partly dismantled, as elsewhere throughout Europe. The Aretines re-used the stones for fortifications. Only the amphitheater remained.

The commune of Arezzo threw off the control of its bishop in 1098 and functioned as an independent city-state until 1384. Generally Ghibelline in tendency, it opposed 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 , 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 failed: Arezzo yielded to Florentine domination in 1384; its individual history became subsumed in that of Florence and of the Medicean Grand Duchy of Tuscany. During this period Piero della Francesca ( 1415–1492) worked in the church of San Francesco di Arezzo producing the splendid frescoes, recently restored, which are Arezzo's most famous works. Afterwards the city began an economical and cultural decay, which ensured the preservation of its medieval centre.

In the 18th century the neighbouring marshes of the Val di Chiana, south of Arezzo, were drained and the region became less malarial. At the end of the-century French troops led by Napoleon Bonaparte conquered Arezzo, but the city soon turned (1799–1800) into a resistance base against the invaders with the "Viva Maria" movement, winning 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; the Germans made a stand in front of Arezzo early in July 1944 and fierce fighting ensued before the British 6th Armoured Division, assisted by New Zealand troops of the 2nd New Zealand Division, liberated the town 16 July 1944. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Arezzo War Cemetery, where 1,266 men are buried, is located to the north-west of the city.

Pope Benedict XVI visited Arezzo and two other Italian municipalities on May 13, 2012.

Geography

Arezzo is set on a steep hill rising from the floodplain of the River 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 appearance despite the addition of later structures. Arezzo's city proper is near the high risk areas for earthquakes, but located in a transitional area where the risk for severe earthquakes is much lower than in nearby Umbria and Abruzzo, albeit it is slightly more vulnerable than Florence. Notable earthquakes are still a very rare phenomenon in the province, with a 4.6 quake to its north-east that claimed no lives on 26 November 2001 the exception.

Climate

Government

Hamlets

* Agazzi
* Antria
* Badia San Veriano
* Bagnoro
* Battifolle
* Bicciano
* Campoluci
* Campriano
* Capolona
* Ceciliano
* Chiani
* Chiassa Superiore
* Cincelli
* Frassineto
* Gaville
* Giovi
* Gragnone
* Il Matto
* Indicatore
* La Pace
* Le Poggiola
* Meliciano
* Misciano
* Molinelli
* Molin Nuovo
* Monte Sopra Rondine
* Montione
* Mugliano
* Olmo
* Ottavo
* Palazzo del Pero
* Patrignone
* Pieve a Ranco
* Poggio Ciliegio
* Policiano
* Pomaio
* Ponte a Chiani
* Ponte alla Chiassa
* Pieve a Quarto
* Ponte Buriano
* Poti
* Pratantico
* Puglia
* Policiano
* Quarata
* Rigutino
* Ripa di Olmo
* Rondine
* Ruscello
* San Firenze
* San Giuliano
* San Leo
* San Marco Vill'Alba
* San Polo
* Santa Firmina
* Santa Maria alla Rassinata
* Sant'Andrea a Pigli
* San Zeno
* Sargiano
* Staggiano
* Stoppe d'Arca
* Subbiano
* Talla
* Torrino
* Tregozzano
* Venere
* Vitiano

Culture

Festivals

*Arezzo is home to an annual international competition of choral singing Concorso Polifónico Guido d'Arezzo (''International Guido d'Arezzo Polyphonic Contest'').
*Arezzo is home to an annual medieval festival called the Saracen Joust (''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.
*From 1986 to 2006 Arezzo was 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. In 2007 it was replaced by PLAY Arezzo Art Festival, still about rock music, involving local bands. Some artists invited in 2007 and 2008 were: Negrita, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, Joan Baez, Ben Harper, Goran Bregovic, Carmen Consoli, Max Gazzè, Peter Brook.

In popular culture

* Arezzo has a starring role in Roberto Benigni's film '' Life Is Beautiful'' (''La vita è bella'', 1997). It is the place in which the main characters live before they are shipped off to a Nazi concentration camp.
* Arretium was used in the PC game'' Rome: Total War'' as the Capital of the Roman Faction of Julii.

Main sights

Piazza Grande

The Piazza Grande is the most noteworthy medieval square in the city, opening behind the 13th century Romanesque apse of Santa Maria della Pieve. Once the main marketplace of the city, it is currently the site of the ''Giostra del Saracino'' ("Joust of the Saracen"). It has a sloping pavement in red brick with limestone geometrical lines. Aside from the apse of the church, other landmarks of the square include:
*The Palace of the Lay Fraternity (''Fraternita dei Laici''): 14th–15th century palazzo, with a Gothic ground floor and a quattrocento second floor by Bernardo Rossellino.
*The ''Vasari Loggia'' along the north side, a flat Mannerist façade designed by Giorgio Vasari.
*Episcopal Palace, seat of the bishops, rebuilt in the mid-13th century. The interior has frescoes by Salvi Castellucci, Teofilo Torri and Pietro Benvenuti. In front of the Palace is the Monument to Grand Duke Ferdinando I de' Medici (1595), by Pietro Francavilla, following a design of Giambologna.
*''Palazzo Cofani-Brizzolari'', with the ''Torre Faggiolana''.
*Remains of the Communal Palace and the ''Palazzo del Popolo'' can also be seen.

Churches

*'' Santa Maria della Pieve'': The most striking feature of this Romanesque church is the massive, square-planned bell tower with double orders of mullioned windows. The church was built in the 12th century over a pre-existing Palaeo-Christian edifice, and was renovated a century later with the addition of the characteristic façade made of loggias with small arches surmounted by all different-styled columns. Also from the same century is the lunette with the ''Virgin between Two Angels'' and the sculptures of the months (1216) over the main portal. the interior has a nave and two aisles, with a transept also added in the 13th century. In the following century chapels, niches and frescoes were added, including the polyptych of ''Virgin with Child and Saints'' by Pietro Lorenzetti (1320). In the crypt is a relic bust of St. Donatus (1346). From the same epoch is the hexagonal baptismal font, with panels of the ''Histories of St. John the Baptist'', by Giovanni di Agostino. The ''Pieve'' was again renovated by Giorgio Vasari in 1560.
*'' Cathedral of Saint Donatus'' (13th – early 16th centuries): The façade of this Gothic style church remained unfinished, and was added in the 20th century. The interior has a nave and aisles divided 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.
*'' Basilica of ''San Francesco'''' (13th–14th centuries): Built in Tuscan-Gothic style. Of the projected 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, a masterwork of 13th-century Italian art. Other artworks include a ''Sts. Philip and James the Younger and St. Catherine'' by Spinello Aretino

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