Arezzo Travel Guide: Piero della Francesca & Antique Markets

Arezzo is a prosperous Tuscan city known to most art historians for one extraordinary thing: the Legend of the True Cross fresco cycle by Piero della Francesca in the Basilica of San Francesco. It is also the setting for Roberto Benigni’s Life Is Beautiful and home to Italy’s largest antique market. It sees far fewer tourists than Florence or Siena, which means the experience of the city itself is markedly more relaxed.

Piero della Francesca

The Cappella Bacci in the Basilica of San Francesco contains the fresco cycle commissioned from Piero della Francesca around 1452–1466. It depicts the Legend of the True Cross — a medieval narrative tracing the wood of the Cross from the Tree of Knowledge through Solomon’s Temple and the discovery of the Cross by St. Helena. The spatial geometry, the pale Umbrian light, and the extraordinary stillness of Piero’s figures make this one of the greatest achievements in Italian painting. Visits are timed and limited; book online at pierodellafrancesca.it.

The city

Piazza Grande is the city’s main square — sloping, irregularly shaped, surrounded by medieval and Renaissance buildings including Vasari’s loggia (Giorgio Vasari, Arezzo native, biographer of the Italian artists, designed the loggia in 1572). The Romanesque apse of Santa Maria della Pieve backs onto the square; the Duomo at the top of the city has stained glass by Guillaume de Marcillat and another Piero fresco.

The antique market

On the first Sunday of each month (and the preceding Saturday), Arezzo hosts the Fiera Antiquaria — Italy’s largest antique market, spread across Piazza Grande and the surrounding streets. Over 500 dealers. Worth timing a visit around.

The Giostra del Saracino

A medieval jousting tournament held twice a year (June and September) in Piazza Grande. Participants in medieval costume compete on horseback.