Arezzo is an extremely ancient city: it was one of the leading Etruscan "lucumonie" and made great development in Roman times thanks to its foundries and production of pots with a red painted finish (coral limestone) which became widely diffused from the 1st century B.C. to the 1st century A.C. Arezzo is set in the
south-east of Tuscany, in the middle of four marvellous valleys which radiate off from the town: the "Val Tiberina" , "Casentino ", "Valdarno" and "Valdichiana". The artistic city itinerary incudes highly interesting elements with extremely original characteristics: there is nothing else like the church of St.Maria della Pieve, Piazza Grande with its sloping surface and the arrangement of its surrounding buildings which stir the immagination, the
Crucifix of Cimabue (13th cen.) in the church of St.Domenico, the stained-glass windows of De Marcillat (16th century) in the cathedral, the Renaissance treasure of the Portico of St.Maria delle Grazie(15th cen.) and, lastly, the masterpiece: the series of frescoes representing Scenes of the Cross by Piero della Francesca (15th cen.) in the church of San Francesco.
An ideal itinerary through the area near Arezzo and Valtiberina could start from Piero della Francesca: from Madonna del
Parto at Monterchi to the works found in San Sepolcro, such as the Madonna della Misericordia and the Resurrection. Apart from Valtiberina with its works of art, pastures and woodland, the area also offers splendid landscapes in Casentino, here there is the National Park of Casentinesi forests where we can find two famous monastic settlements, completely surrounded by century-old trees: Santuario della Verna adn the Camaldoli Retreat. There are numerous romanesque parishes: Socana, Romena,
Stia and the Casteles in Pioppi in Romena, in Porciano.
Also the Valdarno offers splendid landscapes which are particularly striking: from the massiff of Pratomagno to the Cavriglia area with its equipped natural park. There are also many reminders of man's presence through the centuries such as the ancient village of Lorociuffenna, the wall-bounded territory of San Giovanni Valdarno with its beautiful town hall by Arnolfo di Cambio and the Annunciation by Beato Angelico.
The
Valdichiana is intensely and lovingly cultivated across its whole 500 sq. km surface area; ,from the city of Cortona, at 600 m. the valley extends like a garden. Cortona is a great artistic and cultural attraction not only for its Etruscan past, of which many significant tokens have remained, but also for many architectural and pictorial works belongiang to different epochs.
The yearly Antique Furniture Exhibition is very well known and attended by many people. It takes place at the
very beginning of September. In Valdichiana, the towns of Monte San Savino, Lucignano and Castiglio Fiorentino are interesting tourist attractions for their distinguishing features in art, architecture and landscape.
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