Parish Church of Santa Maria Assunta – La Pieve

The Pieve di Santa Maria Assunta Church in Arezzo faces the Corso Italia street and its apse rests in Piazza Grande.  It stands at the the center of everything that’s going on in the busiest part of Arezzo. Construction of this Romanesque church began in the year one thousand and its facade contained three portals. When you look at this parish church today, you have to look up because its bell tower is one of its most interesting features. The tower is called the tower of “100 holes” because of its crosswise openings. There were once ten on each side, which make the bell tower very unique. At the back of the church is a large semicircular apse. The interior  area of the apse is where one of the most skillfully crafted works of art is located: the Pala di Lorenzetti. This polyptych depicts the Virgin and Child and the saints John the Evangelist, Saint Donald, John the Baptist and Mathew. Pietro Lorenzetti was commissioned to create the piece in 1320. Under the altar is the crypt area with a bust-reliquary from 1346 that safeguards the head of Saint Donald, the patron saint of Arezzo, in gilded silver. Just enter into the church and you can see a masterpiece of 14th century painting: the Polyptych commissioned to Pietro Lorenzetti in 1320 depicting the Virgin and Child and the Saints John the Evangelist, Donald, John the Baptist and Matthew.” Also worth mentioning is the beautiful Chapel of SS. Sacramento, where delicate pastel frescoes by the master Luigi Ademollo frame a charming 15th century statue of the Madonna in polychrome terracotta.