Oneof the richest cities in Tuscany, Arezzo is home to some of the finestjewellers and goldsmiths in Italy and indeed, boasts the world’s largest goldmanufacturing plant. It is the old town, however that is of the most interest,not least for its wealth of antique shops and if you are lucky enough to bethere at the right time, a huge monthly antique market. The Piazza Grande, theDuomo and the Roman theatre are all worthy of attention but it is the Basilicaof San Francesco which beckons the most, for it is the home of Piero dellaFrancesca’s ‘Legend of the True Cross’ one of the finest Renaissance frescoesin Tuscany, if not the world. In the afternoon, drive to Cortona, muchpublicised by Frances Mayes in her book, ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’. Set high on ahill, it is typical of an Etruscan settlement, but it is its medieval heartwhich is the attraction today. It is a maze of narrow streets which climbforever upwards to the castle on the top and through some stunning squares
