Discover 10 Interesting and Curious facts about Arezzo, and delve into the history and traditions of this endearing town in Eastern Tuscany. Find out about the famous people who were born here, bizzarre legends, and fascinating stories that will make your visit to Arezzo even more enjoyable.
10 Curious Things a traveller should know about Arezzo
1. Arezzo was an Etruscan city
There are archeological remains in the Arezzo area that date back to the VI century BC. At the time Arretium was one of the Twelve Cities of the Etruscan Confederation (Dodecapoli). The Romans praised the skills of its potters who made beautifully decorated ceramics, and the wines produced in this area. So much so that Pliny the Elder wrote about it in his “Naturalis Historia”.
As proof of the town’s ancient origins you can see some Etruscan artefacts at the Archeological Museum Gaio Clinio Mecenate => the name comes from Mecenate, the friend of Roman Emperor Augusto, a very wealthy individual who helped finance artists and poets. It’s from his name that the word ‘mecenatismo‘ (patronage in Italian) originated. And Mecenate, by the way, was born in Arezzo!

2. Chimaera, one of the symbols of Arezzo
The most famous Etruscan artefact in Arezzo is the celebrated “Chimaera”, a beautiful bronze sculpture, that today can be found at the Archeological Museum in Florence. The sculpture was discovered in 1553, when they were rebuilding the Medicean Fortress, at the time of Gran Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici. The mythical beast was immediately brought to Florence. It was proudly placed in the government seat of Palazzo Vecchio, where important guests from all over the world were able to admire it. And impressive it was, with its three heads (lion, goat and snake) and dramatically vivid details.
The Chimera in Greek mythology, a fire-breathing female monster resembling a lion in the forepart, a goat in the middle, and a dragon behind. She devastated Caria and Lycia until she was slain by Bellerophon. In art the Chimera is usually represented as a lion with a goat’s head in the middle of its back and with a tail that ends in a snake’s head. This matches the description found in Hesiod’s Theogony (7th century BC).
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So as the Medici took possession of the chimaera, what you can see in Arezzo are copies. One is outside the Renaissance city door Porta San Lorentino, another one is at Palazzo Cavallo. But the most faithful reproduction of the the original is in front of the train station, in Piazza della Repubblica.

3. Guido of Arezzo, inventor of musical notation
The invention of standard written music notation is traditionally ascribed to Benedettine monk Guido of Arezzo, (born most likely near Arezzo around the year 1000). He was an important music theorist who created the modern Western system of music notation by introducing the ‘ut–re–mi–fa–so–la’ syllables (the first was later changed into ‘do’) => They were the initial syllables in the first stanza of a religious hymn written in Latin.
«Ut queant laxis/ Resonare fibris/ Mira gestorum/ Famuli tuorum/ Solve polluti/ Labii reatum/Sancte Iohannes»
Guido was teaching music (and chanting) in Arezzo Cathedral and invented this system to aid musical learning. He also wrote the ‘Micrologus’, a pivotal music treatise, that outlines singing and teaching practice for Gregorian chant.
In Arezzo look out for the 19th century statue of him in the square of the same name, Guido Monaco.

4. Arezzo honours its son Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) (1304- 1374), the great Italian scholar, poet and humanist, was born in Arezzo. His house is now seat of Accademia Petrarca di Lettere Arti e Scienze that hosts heirlooms and volumes referring to this giant of Italian literature.
Arezzo has a national monument dedicated to Petrarca. It’s a huge marble monumental sculpture from the beginning of last century, by Alessandro Lazzerini. It’s rich in allegories that refer to the poet’s works and themes. A 4 meter tall Petrarca, with his poem ‘Africa’ in hand, dominates a complicated affair of symbols (the she-wolf milking Romolo and Remo, Mother Italy with a baby in her arm protecting her children from the aries, symbol of war), and a representation of the six ‘Trionfi’ written by Petrarca (triumphs of the human soul in progress from earthly passion to fulfilment in God.)
The monument is located in the Prato, the vast park that overlooks the town and surrounding countryside.
5. Cosimo I de’ Medici, Vasari, and Piazza Grande
Cosimo I de’ Medici rebuilt Arezzo’s historic centre completely in the 16th century, for defensive purposes. The walls, the fortress, the Medieval civic and religious buildings were torn down and the whole face of the city changed. This is when his architect Giorgio Vasari created the magnificent Renaissance-style loggias that flank Piazza Grande.
Vasari, also born in Arezzo, was a prolific artist and writer. He’s the mind behind the creation of the Uffizi’s building and the Corridoio Vasariano in Florence and the restructuring of Palazzo Vecchio. He also frescoed the interior of the Dome in Florence. You could easily say that without Vasari, Florence and Arezzo would not look the way they do today!
In Arezzo you can visit his house – now museum Casa Vasari, that unsurprisingly is decorated by himself and other Renaissance artists.
6. The legend of Santa Maria della Pieve
One of the edifices that encircle Piazza Grande is the apse of the Romanesque Santa Maria della Pieve Church. If you look at the slender columns that decorate the apse, you notice that one of them (the fifth from the left) has a strange, irregular shape. It is hunchbacked, or misshapen.
Different theories circulate. One claims that the builders, finding the apse to be flawless, introduced an imperfection, as if to imply only God can be perfect. Another says it refers to a hunchback monk. While yet another more abstract theory argues that this crooked column is a symbol of evil bent over towards good..
=> Santa Maria della Pieve Church deserves an in-depth visit, especially if you love Medieval art. Check out the main portal and the bell tower ‘of a hundred holes’.

7. A Working 16th century Astronomical Clock
In Arezzo there’s an astronomical clock dating back to the sixteenth century. “One of the rarest of its type in Europe and unique in Italy for its dimensions, this clock is not only an extraordinary achievement in terms of mechanical engineering, but extremely valuable historically”, says the site of the Fraternità dei Laici, who has it on the belfry of their splendid palace in Piazza Grande.
Having been carefully restored, it’s still in use today. It gets charged manually every day and shows the time to the people of Arezzo. The complex mechanism of weights and pulleys also move the Sun and Moon around the fixed Earth (in accordance with the Ptolemaic theory)!
=> Check out the Top 8 Day Trips from Arezzo

8. Arezzo on the Big Screen
Piazza Grande is the setting for the Oscar winning movie “Life is Beautiful” (1997) by Tuscany-born Roberto Benigni, a moving and heartfelt story about family love at the time of Jewish persecution during WWII.
The Church of San Francesco, famous among art lovers thanks to the famous fresco series by Piero della Francesca, has been filmed in the “English Patient” (1996). It’s the scene when Kip, the mine sweeper, shows his lover, the nurse Hannah, the beautiful frescoes, lighting the church’s walls with a flare. A touching scene of two people looking for love and light among the dark horrors of war.
9. Golden Town
The Goldsmith District of Arezzo is world-famous for its unique items of high quality craftsmanship and international OroArezzo trade fair. This craft dates back to the Etruscan age, and throughout the centuries has been enriched by different traditions: Middle East, Greek and Byzantine influences. Arezzo goldsmiths have worked for kings and Popes. Nowadays, over 2 thousand companies operate in the sector, and total value of exports is huge.
Uno A Erre, leader in the goldsmith sector, opened its Museum in Arezzo in 1988, first museum in Italy dedicated to this craft.
10. Arezzo and its Demons
This is a story that shines a dark light on the town. The time is 13th century, and the source is the biography of Saint Francis of Assisi (“Legenda Maior”). There was a time when Arezzo was invaded by demons and Saint Francis urged a brother of his order to drive them out, ‘like God ordered, shouting from outside the city door‘. So the friar did so, and the demons flew away, freeing the city from evil.
Different artistic representations shows this weird episode related to Arezzo’s past. The most famous, and beautiful (despite the subject!), is in the Basilica in Assisi => “Exorcism of the Demons at Arezzo” is a fresco by Giotto (1297). A painting of the same subject, from 1633, is in the Museum of the Fraternità dei Laici in Arezzo.
In case you were wondering, the demons represented the discord and rivalries that were alive and well in Medieval cities, and Arezzo was no exception.
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