The Medicean Fortress is a stone giant which dominates Arezzo from the high part of the hill of Saint Donato. The park of Arezzo sinks its roots with its irregular pentagon plan and its five bastions in the flattened section of the Prato.
It is absolutely a fortress unique in its kind. It was built by the Medici not for protecting the city but for defending themselves from the people from Arezzo because they have never accepted to be dominated by Florentines. It says a lot about the character of Arezzo and its people.
Designed and built in the Sixteenth century, today it is restored and given back to the city, it is a terrific place for shows, exhibitions and events or for a sunset stroll enjoying 360 degree views of Arezzo kissed by the rose golden evening reflections.
The visit of the Medicean Fortress gives us the chance of admiring the diggings in progress which are bringing to light several Etruscan and Roman traces and they reveal to us the past of this stone giant.
The Medicean Fortress: art to live
Enter the Fortress is like crossing a magic door opened toward the past. Getting lost in its tunnels, crossing its rooms, going up the bastions and then close your eyes and feel the charm of this ancient fort: an extraordinary experience.
It is enough to touch one of these stones to hear the stories of the past time. In a moment, we will be catapulted in a different world between the war horse uproar, the sharp sword clash, the shining armor and the fires lit to watch the night and avert enemy attacks.
For the kids, it will be dream to play inside the Medicean fortress of Arezzo and wearing the knight’s clothing. The Fortress with its indoor spaces, its bastions and its paths and the park, which surrounds it, is the best place for endless play without fantasy limits.
Concerts, art, shows and a unique gaze on the city of Arezzo
The big green space rebuilt during the restoration together with the big oval central green meadow are dedicated to strolls along the bastions. It is a natural amphitheatre surrounded by blossoming trees, it is the perfect stage for concerts, soirees, operas, shows and improvisation shows.
The inner Fortress rooms, the paths and corridors do not host ladies and knights anymore but important National and International contemporary art exhibitions in a divine dialogue between past and present beauty.
It is from here, from the top of the Medicean Fortress bastions which you can have the best view of Arezzo. We can see with only one gaze the Cathedral bell tower called the big pencil of Arezzo, the tower of the Palazzo del Comune, Romanesque Pieve bell tower called the one hundred holes, the tower of the house of Petrarca and the crenellated towers of Piazza Grande, the Oscar award square of Life is Beautiful by Roberto Benigni.
From the top of the Fortress our gaze becomes a hug on Arezzo. We could turn from the city and point our view to its valleys. From here the sight extends until Casentino and its mountains and it embraces all the green of the Aretinian hills of San Fabiano and the Monte di Poti. A lascivious expanse of meadows, cypresses and olive trees and the Aqueduct by Vasari, who first brought the water inside city walls to quench our population’s thirst.
From the Medicean Fortress we have a perfect view of Arezzo for travelers and demanding photographers. A starting point for new and infinite inspirations between late and contemporary Arezzo. A rediscovered and a new beauty, yet to be told.
