In Valtiberina, the most Eastern
part of the province of Arezzo where it borders Marche,
Romagna and Umbria, dominating the valley, we find the
medieval town of Anghiari (429 m, population approx.
6000), mentioned in "The most beautiful cities of
Italy" as well as "Bandiera Arancione of the
Italian Touring Club" and "Slow City".
Using the narrow interweaving streets
of the town we will visit the historic centre, the Badia di
S. Bartolomeo, Palazzo Pretorio, the Museum of traditional
culture in the Palazzo Taglieschi and the Museum of the
Battaglia.
The latter reconstructs the event that in 1503
Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned to paint for the Palazzo
Vecchio in Florence and which celebrates the Florentine
Victory in the famous Battle of Anghiari which took place
beneath the walls of the town on the 29th June 1440.
Then we will go approx 15km away, to visit another little
town: Caprese Michelangelo, a walled town found at the top
of a steep hill that dominates the wooded valley of the
Singerna and which owes it name to Michelangelo Buonarotti,
who was born there on the 6th March 1475. Here we will visit
the Museum "Michelangiolesco", built as a
permanent tribute to the renowned artist by his town of birth
in 1964, the year in which the 400th Anniversary of his death
was celebrated. This museum is situated in the house where
Michelangelo was born, (14th Century), in Palazzo Clusini
(15th Century) and in the open, in the remains of the ancient
castle which dates back to the high medieval period.
