Italy Day 3 – Arezzo

Today was our first major excursion in Italy.  We drove into Arezzo and met Steve and Rebecca at the train station (they delayed their departure from the US due to a volleyball tournament).  Then the two Smuck clans took a walking tour of the city.

The cousins pose by the statue of Guido Monaco. Guido was a Benedictine monk and music theorist who is credited with developing the musical notion lines which evolved into the modern the music staff. He also came up with the idea of naming notes with the letters A through G.
Arezzo was featured in the Oscar award winning film Life Is Beautiful. We ate lunch in a restaurant which was (barely) visible in one of the scenes filmed on Via Cavour (pictured above).
We made our way up the hillside Arezzo is built upon to the Piazza Grande (above) which is also featured in the movie Life Is Beautiful. We explored some of the shops along the piazza and then walked to the Basilica Di San Francesco for a tour.
We toured the 725 year old Basilica Di San Francesco which is dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi. Among many other beautiful works of art, it contains the several frescos (partially visible in the chancel above) collectively known as The Legend of the True Cross which were completed by Piero della Francesca in 1466.
This close up shows two panels of Francesca’s frescos. The bottom shows the battle of Nineveh between the Byzantines and Sassanids. The top depicts the discovery and authentication of the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.
This is the large stained glass window in the rear of the basilica by Guillaume de Marcillat.
This areal shot shows the ruins of the amphitheater and the Archaeological Museum built on top of it.
Here is a close up of the ruins in the foreground with the museum in the background.
Carrie snuck in both side of this panorama showing the amphitheater ruins from the museum balcony.

Most of the pottery and figurines in the museum were behind glass and didn’t photograph well, but we did capture a few representative pieces.

An Etruscan jug and container from 580-550 BC.
These three terracotta pieces decorated the roofline of a building from around 400 BC.
A sculpture of a young man with a hat from around 200 BC.
A marble altar (circa 10 BC) portraying the myth of the twins Romulus and Remus being fed by a wolf.
Glass jars from 50 BC – 50 AD.
A pair of earrings from the 7th century.
Finally, something that impresses Chris.