Arezzo: a bride, a cathedral, and a fortress

Today for our last day in Corciano, we took a day trip an hour away to the town of Arezzo. First stop, above, was the Basilica of (surprise) S. Francesco in Arezzo. The highlight of this basilica was the fresco cycle of the story of the true cross by Piero della Francesca. This consisted of a series of 8 or 9 panels with scenes from the story of how the wood used for the crucifix was found and the meaning it carried in certain figure's lives, including Constantine.

a courtyard view

The cathedral or duomo of Arezzo is very impressive. It is very ornately decorated on the inside and the high ceilings are breathtaking. The chapels are almost as large as a small church back home. What made this experience even more memorable was the fact that there was a wedding going on inside when we arrived. According to our guide, one must be very wealthy to get married in a cathedral. We caught a glimpse of the bride as she was making her way through family and friends to the door to exit. She looked like a picture from a fairytale with her pale pink princess dress that looked so exquisite and gorgeous! We all felt rather out of place in our shirts and shorts among the wedding-goers in their nice wedding attire.

Then as we were walking back through the square by the cathedral later, we saw another wedding procession begin with another bride!

The picture above is of the clock tower complete with bells that ring every quarter of an hour along with the bells that call the people to mass on Sunday, which we heard several times today. I think it is very cool to hear those old bells chiming.

This month there was a special traditional celebration going on in Arezzo similar to a traditional medieval joust! Stands and a runway were set up in the middle of the square to be used in the near future. The windows looked very nice all dressed up in their coat of arms.

Here is another view of the stands, and behind them is the back side of the basilica of San Domenico. This church was just finishing up mass when we arrived and so we got to hear the organ player play a few last songs. It was amazing the way those haunting melodic notes filled the large enclosed area. I love listening to the organ. After the mass was over we got to go look at the special altar piece in gold with select portraits of the saints and below there was a crypt for an important religious person of the town.

Next we made our way to the Fortezza Medicea, the Medici Fortress which unfortunately was closed for restoration, but we got to see the outside of it and in the adjacent park was this statue celebrating the Roman empire.

This is a picture of the bell tower of another church we visited before heading back to the main square to meet up with the others for dinner. We had dinner at a traditional trattoria at two banquet tables upstairs. Since the meal was part of the program it was already pre-ordered as a group. Our starters were brought out right away and those alone could have satisfied our hunger, but knowing Italian meals we knew there would be at least two more courses to come plus dessert! Needless to say it was great night and we were all very, very full when we left!