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June & July 2005

Arezzo (Tuscany)

Jeremy Koh
2005-11-05 11:58:07

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The historic part of town (within the old city walls) is predominantly medieval, giving Arezzo a quaint air, especially so when we had to navigate narrow cobbled streets. Soon we found ourselves in Piazza Grande, Arezzo's largest square. Some scenes from Roberto Benigni's award-winning Life is Beautiful/ La Vita è Bella was filmed in this Piazza. This picturesque square has a trapezoidal shape with a gentle slope and has been described as one of Italy's most beautiful squares. Indeed, it is very attractive. The west side of the square (as seen in the picture below) is dominated by the apse of the Pieve di Santa Maria, one of the largest and most important Romanesque churches in Tuscany. On the other side of the square, there are typical medieval houses with wooden balconies. Very lovely indeed. Around evening time, the square seems even more lovely basking in the sun's soft glow and you see the birds flying around the square as they come home to roost. Indeed, if you relax and let your imagination run wild, you can just feel yourself living in ancient times. Unfortunately, all it took was one bird to offload its waste materials in mid-flight onto my shirt for me to be brought back to reality. Therefore, daydream all you want, but beware of hazardous material from above.

Speaking of the Pieve di Santa Maria, this 12th-century church has a craggy eroded facade of stacked arcades in luminous beige stone. An interesting point to note is that the spaces between the columns of the arcades get narrower at each level, which along with the setting on a narrow street, adds to the illusion of great height. Within the church, you can find the remains of Arezzo's patron saint, St. Donato, a local bishop matryred in the 5th century in the crypt. The church interior has some gothic influences and it's hard to explain why, but the church reminded us of Dracula movies, with bats and all. However, it's still a lovely place to visit. ...

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Very detailed descriptions of building structures and the town which can definitely draw readers into visiting this lovely. peaceful town.

Prema, 2005-11-17 04:49:13