Arezzo Things to Do

Unfortunately I do not have a photo of the Casa Vasari, but it is really a worthwhile place to visit--especially if you are unable to get a reservation to see the more famous frescoes at San Francesco.

The Casa Vasari was indeed a house designed by Vasari and heavily decorated in his own painting style. If you are using the Rough Guides, do not be put off by the author referring to Vasari as "a hack"-- I really enjoyed his work! Admittedly I am not a specialist in frescoes, but each room in the house was very interesting, done in varying styles, and still had some amazing color to them. Plus, it was nice cool respite on a hot Tuscan day.

Closed Tuesdays. Small admissions charge.

Vicolo is the Italian translation of our word "alley." While wandering around Arezzo without any location in mind, I stumbled upon Vicolo del Marcianello, which could perhaps be the most unique street I ever encountered in Italy. It is a path lined on both sides with old stone walls, ornamented by beautiful small garden doors that lead to houses or yards. It is a fabulous, quiet stroll away from the bustle of the Piazza.

Piazza Grande is the lively heart town, though it is far from being a geographical heart. Located in the northeast corner of the city, it takes quite a few minutes of uphill climbing to reach its elegant, slanting bricks. The northern side of the piazza is flanked by the Loggia di Vasari (see Casa Vasari tip below) along with many other architecturally interesting buildings.

Also along the Piazza are small kiosks devoted to sharing tidbits of "Life is Beautiful" scenes.

The Arezzo museum for medieval and modern art is situated in the palazzo Bruni. It has some nice statues, coins, paintings, etc. from the middleages and the centuries after. Don't expect to find contemporairy art. In Italian historiography the word 'modern' means the same as we should call 'early modern' i.e. the fifteenth to the eighteenth century.
It also has a huge amount of painted porcelain plates, whish I personallt found very ugly. But since there were mythological scenes painted on it, it was nice guessing which story it represented.
Futhermore also this museum doesn't have much visiters, though it is bigger than the archeological museum. There was a museumguard who was litterary following me all the time. Don't let it make you nervous.
And by the way, also this museum was free for everyone under 19.

The archeological museum of Arezzo is situated near the roman amphitheatre. Unfortunately not much of the old theatre is left and when I was there they we're busy organising excavations of open air opera's or something like that. The museum is small but worth seeing. It was some nice Roman vases, statues and jewelry. Futhermore there are also some etruscan remains to be seen. The museum doesn't have much visiters, even in summer, so you'll have the museum for yourself. The personnel is very helpful, but also almost walking behind you contantly, because you're the only visiter (the same is true of the Arezzo museum for medieval and modern art). Still it's a very nice small museum, to see a little bit of the ancient times. And for everyone below 19, it is free (and it was 2 days before my 19th birthday!).

For everyone who has seen this movie (life is beautiful) and loved it or just loved the scenery, here are some tips of where to go. I'll list the places where the movie has been taped, just take a look and see if you recognize someting.
1. Piazza della Liberta'
2. Piazza Grande (where he ran into his principessa of the second time)
3. Piaggia San Martino (the 'Maria la chiave!' - 'Mary the key!' scene)
4. Piazza San Francesco (the scene about why jews weren't allowed in the shops)
5. Teatro Petrarca (Via Guido Monaco)
6. Piazza della Badia (where you could see a statue of Mussolini)
7. Via Porta Buia
8. Via Garibaldi

The Piazza Grande is the most famous square in town. It's surrounded by medieval-looking buildings. The strange thing is that is extremely sloping. But it's a beautiful place and that must be one of the reasons that parts of La vita è bella have been taped there.

Everyone visiting Arezzo should see this church for it containes fresco's of one of the most famous Italian Renaissance painters: Piero della Francesca. The whole main altar of this church is filled with his paintings. It represents the legend of the true cross and therefore has fresco's of a.o. the queen of Saba visiting king Salomo, Constantine's dream, the battle of Constantine and Maxentius and the finding of the cross. Unfortunately the fresco's are not painted in chronological order, therefore it's difficult to understand the whole story without a guide, certainly if you don't know it. But without the apprehension it's enough to see those beautiful paintings, though you can't get very close to it.
The rest of the church's fresco's are heavily damaged, due to a stay of Napoleontic soldiers in this church. There are a few fresco's rediscovered from under the plaster, but the greatest part of it has been lost.
Still it's a wonderful church to visit, maybe even more because the colorful main chapel constrasts so heavily with the rest of the sober church.