Piazza Grande is the main historic square of Arezzo and the architectural center of the city’s medieval district. It lies on the upper section of the old town, behind the Romanesque apse of Santa Maria della Pieve, and is distinguished by a trapezoidal plan laid across a visibly sloping surface. The pronounced gradient is one of the square’s defining physical characteristics. Its pavement descends from the Vasari Loggias toward the lower medieval buildings, while the arrangement also helped rainwater drain away. This unusual topography gives Piazza Grande a spatial form that differs from the level, geometrically regular civic squares found in many Italian cities. The buildings surrounding Piazza Grande date from different historical periods. Medieval tower-houses stand beside Gothic and Renaissance architecture, while the long Palazzo delle Logge creates a unified upper frontage. The result is not a single-period ensemble but a documented record of Arezzo’s political, commercial, religious, and architectural development. Piazza Grande is also the principal setting of the Giostra del Saracino, or Joust of the Saracen. The competition is held twice each year: a night edition in June and a daytime edition in September. During the event, four historic quarters compete through mounted jousters carrying lances toward Read more [...]