The Museums of Arezzo

The land of Arezzo is rich in history and beauty and it is narrated and enhanced by all its many museums.In the museums of Arezzo where the traces of the past are linked with the stories of men and women which made great art and human history. Art houses which guard the most precious testaments of our history.

The National Archeological Museum Gaio Cilnio Mecenate and its Roman Amphitheatre gather the most precious traces of the Etruscan and Roman Arezzo: statues, crockery, jewels and architecture rest here for discovering the archeological roots of Arezzo.

The National Medieval and Modern Art Museum, in the historic Bruni Ciocchi palace which is considered as the most beautiful Renaissance building in Arezzo, guards Middle-Ages and Renaissance treasures. Not only one collection but many between majolica, coins, army and goldsmith pieces of art are linked together thanks to the passion of the first patron and antiquity trade men of Arezzo. Here we can find Spinello Aretino and Giorgio Vasari in the giant Banquet for the Wedding of Ester and Ahaserus, one of the biggest Sixteenth century paintings on wood.

Just a few steps away, there is the Museum of Casa Vasari, the house museum built and painted by Giorgio Vasari. This was his Aretinian shelter away from the confusion of Renaissance Florentine and the Roman court. Its frescoed rooms are breathtaking.

For art and museum lovers the Basilica of Saint Francis in Arezzo is an unforgettable visit. The Bacci chapel guards the most beautiful Renaissance cycle of frescoes “The Legend of the True Cross” by  Piero della Francesca.

In Corso Italia there is the House Museum Ivan Bruschi, the treasure chest of the Antique fair of Arezzo founder. A thousand pieces of art from all the eras of the Aretinian history. An intense journey for adults and kids.

In Piazza Grande there is the Palazzo della Fraternita dei Laici with the Museum of Fraternita. An exhibition of more than eight thousand art works between drawings, sculptures, publishing, antique décor, art, archeological and scientific collections. Inside the Palazzo del Comune we can find the MUMEC,  Museum of the Means of Communications of Arezzo, where the history of the means of communications is shown thanks to old, vintage and rare pieces: typewriters, first computers, old cameras, magic Venetian lanterns. Here the charm goes on stage.

A thing not to be missed is a visit to the exhibition I colori della Giostra - The colours of the Joust - an interactive museum entirely dedicated to the Saracen Joust. Housed on the ground floor of the Town Hall, this extraordinary installation tells the story and the characters of our great local event, displaying original costumes and items but also with the help of digital and interactive technologies that bring us back to the old medieval glory of our town.