YOU MIGHT HAVE TROUBLE FINDING AREZZO in your Italy guidebook—even Rick doesn’t bother with it. Arezzo is older than Florence but it didn’t have Michelangelo. It is in Tuscany but it isn’t a hill town but it . The Sunday morning strollers aren’t tourists—they live here. The stores carry consumer items, not souvenirs and locals gather at the cafes. The Church of San Francesco charges admission but the Duomo is free. Piazza Grande doesn’t host a Palio yet each of its buildings has a story to tell.
Best AirBnB Yet!
We found Arezzo to be a convenient stop on our way to Ravenna. And as nice as Agriturismo Il Poderaccio was, this AirBnB is better! Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a great kitchen, toasty heating, sleekly modern with an elevator and just outside the San Lorentino Gate to the historic district. There is a wonderful grocery just across the street and we had no problem finding free parking nearby.
San Lorentino Gate
Chimera (copy)
Connie has resumed her early morning five-mile walks. She took the Arezzo guidebook that came with the apartment and scoped out everything that we wanted to see. It took some doing to figure out what would be open when, if ever, but we managed to put together a plan.
Archeological Museum and ruins of Roman Colesium—both closed!
Via Cavour on Sunday morn
Quiet Sunday
Abbey Tower of Saints Fiora & Lucilla
We spent Sunday morning taking what filmmakers call “location shots”; exteriors of churches, the perpetually closed Archeological Museum, mostly empty streets and interesting bits and pieces. And people—real people, not tourists—doing what locals do on a chilly Sunday.
Church of San Francesco
The Church of San Francesco opens to the public at one o’clock, after the faithful have attended Sunday Mass and taken Holy Communion. During busier times, reservations are required to visit the Bacci Chapel with its wonderfully restored frescos by Piero della Francesca. We were able to show up at the ticket window, shell out €8 each and, voilà, we had our 30-minutes to marvel.
Restored frescos, Bacci Chapel, Church of San Francesco
Restored frescos, Bacci Chapel, Church of San Francesco
The frescos show the same old stories from the Bible but the restored frescos were so vibrant that we felt like we were seeing them for the first time. Connie really studied them—she even used her binoculars. I was more impressed by the composition and the colors. and by little things, like how lines were etched into the wet plaster to define subjects.
Connie certainly gets her euro's worth
Etched into wet plaster
Small figures in corner of fresco
Unrestored fresco and Crucifix
After seeing the fine restoration work, we didn’t begrudge the €8 admission fee—someone has to pay for this stuff. And when your 30-minutes is up, there is still a lot of San Francesco to see, not that anyone was timing us today. From the nave the view of the restored frescos and the crucifix showed what the congregation would have seen.
View from the Orchestra, Church of San Francesco
When the service was over and they were leaving they would certainly have noticed the round stained glass over the entrance but probably didn’t realize that the guy in green was none other than Piero della Francesca.
That' Piero dressed in Green in the center
