Arezzo

We drove on to Arezzo, another hill town, famous for its continuing wealth as well as its great medieval and Renaissance art and architecture. What attracted us in particular was Piero della Francesca's 15th century Legend of the Holy Cross, one of the greatest of Italian frescoes (which is saying something), but there was plenty more to see. Arezzo is a bit off the usual tourist circuit. Despite abundant facilities, parking, a free camper-stop two blocks from the wall, excellent signage all over, we saw rather few tourists, no tour buses nor tour bus groups, and liked Arezzo so well we stayed two days and nights. I'll divide my posts between the city and its architecture and its art.

Among the abundant facilities and amenities, a

succession of scala mobili, escalators, takes

you from the parking lot up to the old city, in

the shade, too

The very large mostly 13th-15th century duomo, to which

we'll return for some art and illumination

The Francesca church, 13th century, not the

first church we have or will see with an

unfinished west facade; they built from the

chancel back through the nave, and typically

got to the facade last, often when funds had

given out or tastes had changed

Inside the Francesca, another vast but austere

Gothic church; we'll return in the next post for a

look at the frescoes that occupy most all of the

chancel

Santa Maria della Pieva, 13th-15th century,

one view of the Romanesque facade and huge

campanile

East side of Santa Maria della Pieve, which

fronts onto the Grande Piazza

And the Grande Piazza

The facade and campanile again; the latter with 40 bays

Interior; another huge church

Arezzo's public library, a beautiful old Renaissance palazzo

bearing the Medici coat of arms as well as many others

Next door, Petrach's house, where they're

doing some remodeling

House of Vasari, painter, architect, writer, Renaissance Man,

whose 1530 Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors,

and Architects makes him, some say, the first art historian

Interior of San Domenico, another 13th century Gothic

church, very austere, but home of Cimabue's Crucifix

Cortona

Cortona is the hill town made famous, well, somewhat famous, in Frances Mayes' Under the Tuscan Sun. We had both read the book--a very decent exercise in creative non-fiction--and seen the movie, which bore only the least passing similarity to the book. Anyhow, from Assisi we drove up to Cortona, passing from beautiful Umbria to beautiful Tuscany, hoping to take in some of the extolled Tuscan sun, atmosphere, ambience, etc. Alas, the parking situation at Cortona is dreadful. There were a dozen or more spaces alloted for campers, but nearly all were filled with tiny little local sedans. Even the bus parking lot was grid-locked. There really wasn't anything in Cortona on our must-see list, so we drove down the hill a bit, parked at a turn-out, and I hiked back up to see the one thing of interest, namely, the Etruscan gates. Probably not worth the hike.

Downtown Cortona from uptown

Tuscan countryside, and a finger of Lake Trasimeno

Gridlock; and the car parking was worse

The Etruscan Gates

My sentiment exactly; we drove on to Arezzo

Perugia Street Scene

We noticed the camera crew as we were leaving the piazza

The director giving everyone instructions

Leading man and lady (checking in with her a; "get me
out of here!")gent)

A little more costume and make-up attention

All set

Wait, no, something needs fixing here

OK, now we're set...lights, action, camera...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZTqJiYGGS4

Perugia

We needed a day or two off from hard-core sightseeing, Perugia affords a free camper-stop, so we decided to go there for a couple nights to rest and regroup. Perugia is the capital of Umbria, and we probably didn't do it justice as tourists. Maybe next time.

Under the big shade tree at the camper-stop

Perugia is a major chocolate center and we were parked just

below the Etruscan ChocoHotel

Practically the whole lobby is a showroom of all things

chocolate; well, maybe not all things, but many things you'd

not imagine in chocolate

Including a tub of chocolate ore; and, not pictured, chocolate
beer

We did take a bus to the up-town to see the piazza (reputedly

one of the best in Italy); above, one of the older buildings now

housing several museums (which we skipped)

The piazza and duomo

The griffin is Perugia's emblem, the lion is the Guelphs (or

possibly the Ghibellines; I forget)

The Fontana Maggiore, in the piazza

Very popular with pigeons

Interior of the duomo

In one of the odder religious representations I

have seen, Jesus looks on from his window

high on the duomo

Cat housing; on the street near a residence in Perugia; but not

on the residence

Assisi

Assisi is a beatiful hill town, thoroughly medieval, but not without an ancient touch or two. Here are just a few pix.

Scenes like this all around

The Gothic arch was in use in the 12th-14th

centuries here

In the main piazza, the medieval city hall and

tower, next to the Temple of Minerva

Store in an ancient building

Nice metal work

Looking to the valley below and the other major church,

St. Mary of the Angels and Martyrs or somesuch

Integral buttresses on many of the buildings

If I'd had the camera out and focused a second sooner,

I would have had a perfect Franciscan Abbey Road shot

Facade of the Mary church in the valley; among its two

claims to fame is that it is the 10th largest church in the

RC realm

Its large and largely unadorned interior

But its main attraction is this, Francis' original

little chapel (well adorned)...

Situated beneath the dome of the church

And, from our Stazione camper-stop, one last look at up-town

Assisi and the great Francis duomo