Arezzo
Arezzo is a city in central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany.
Church of Santa Maria della Pieve, Arezzo
History
Arezzo was founded by the Etruscans. It became one of the etruscan twelve most important cities, the Dodecapolis. It was a flourishing city in the days of the Roman Empire, then known by the name of Arretium. During the Middle Ages, much of its earlier architecture was dismantled to reuse the stones for fortifications. Arezzo was an indepedent city-state from the 11th century until 1384, when it was incorporated into the Tuscan State of Florence.
Notable people from Arezzo
Prominent people from Arezzo include the scholar Petrarch, artist Piero della Francesca, painter and biographer Giorgio Vasari, botonist Cesalpino, poet Guittone d'Arezzo, Pope Julius II, and Guido d'Arezzo, who developed the system for writing the musical scale.
Arezzo also gave birth to Michelangelo Buonarroti, one of the greatest painters and sculptors of all times, Maecenas, who protected artists such as Virgil and Horace, and the satirical poet Pietro l'Aretino.
Gianfrancesco, also known as Giovanni Francesco Poggio Bracciolini, a famous humanist of the Italian Renaissance, was born near Arezzo.