Chiesa di Santa Maria della Pieve – Romanesque church

Churches are never far from mind in Arezzo but they are often strikingly different, as here. Spiritual duties await in one of the loveliest Romanesque churches in Tuscany. Rising from the southern side of Piazza Grande, the main square, sitting on the Corso, is the Santa Maria della Pieve. This is Arezzo’s most ancient church, and revels in its arcaded façade and elaborately carved columns. The church boasts a so-called `tower of a hundred holes,’ named because of the filigree pattern of arches piercing the belfry. As in San Gimignano, the lofty tower has been likened to a medieval skyscraper. Inside, the star attraction is Pietro Lorenzetti’s panel-painting, Madonna and Saints, painted in the 1320s.

Address: Corso Italia 7, Arezzo
Web: www.visitarezzo.com