church of san francesco arezzo

You have to visit this place and you will see the fantastic frescoes of Piero della Francesca - specially The Legend of Santa Croce. It is really worth to spent money for the tickets

The church itself is simple and unadorned, but Piero della Francesca's "The History of the True Cross" fresco series is a spectacular work of Early Renaissance art that by itself makes the entire trip to Arezzo worthwhile. There is an admission fee and some of the frescoes are a bit faded due to age, but one can stand directly under the images and get a very good look. When we visited, there were not many other tourists but one group was particularly noisy and it was a detraction to this very reverent location. The chapel is very open and not voluminous so one or two annoying and inconsiderate guests can be a major nuisance. No one was on staff monitoring the chapel itself. PDF's series derives from the popular 13th century book on the lives of saints by Jacopo da Voragine, the Golden Legend, and traces wood from the Garden of Eden to that which became the Cross on which Christ was crucified. One downside, the chapel does not have an English intrepretation handy for visitors.

We were on a group tour and, just before our short free time in Arezzo, the local guide finished her tour outside the Church and casually mentioned the frescoes. Fortunately we were able to race down the side of the church, explained our time constraint and were able to get on the next timed entrance almost immediately. The Church itself was worth visiting but then the frescoes topped it all! The best (and uninterrupped view) is behind the altar. I stood in one spot and slowly turned around in a circle and enjoyed the wonderment of the frescoes. How lucky Europeans are to have such treasures. How fortunate we were to see them!

This is a phenomenally beautiful church with Piero frescoes. It is slightly off the main street. Be sure to read guidebook before going

Not surprisingly many tourists visit Arezzo with the sole purpose of seeing Piero della Francesca's frescoes, one of the most important cycles not only in Tuscany but in the whole of Italy. Arezzo has many other attractions, but none as striking as these; not only for the luminous colours and the perfect composition of the various scenes, but for the relevance to contemporary events taking place in Piero's lifetime. Why, then, is a visit to this Basilica rated only 9th among the attractions of this city? It could be the expense of the visit: eight euros is a lot for just half an hour's viewing. (Compare the six euros a visitor pays for a visit to Santa Croce in Florence, where there is no time limit to see all the marvellous artworks there). Secondly, there is no explanatory dépliant available, essential for a full understanding of the story depicted; I have seen visitors wandering into the Chapel and walking out, perplexed, after five minutes. I think if people pay so much to enter they should be given such a dépliant (an excellent one was available in the past), which could cost the management only a centime or two for each visitor. (Again in Florence, I have been to see wonderful frescoes of The Last Supper where admission is free and there are leaflets available in three languages.). It is true that there is an excellent guidebook on sale in the ticket office of the Basilica, but not many visitors are prepared to spend 10 Euros on top of the cost of the visit. Thirdly, when I last went to the Basilica there was the possibility of a free guided visit, which I much enjoyed as the guide was very well informed: but there was no guide who could speak English, only Italian, which I have the good fortune to speak as I live in this country. Lower the price of the visit - 5 Euros would be a fair amount - provide dépliants in three languages and employ at least one guide who speaks English; only then could these frescoes become the number one attraction of the city of Arezzo, as they deserve to be.

This rather humble looking church has some of the most beautiful frescos from the Early Renaissance period. Piero della Francesca painted the majority of the frescos behind the altar. You're only allowed 30 minutes to look inside the church. The colors, composition and detail of the frescos are outstanding. You need to get your tickets down the street to the left of the church entrance facing it. A little confusing, because there wasn't a sign telling you the church tickets were there. Another exhibit was showing at the ticket and church store. Well worth a visit to this church!

The frescoes in this church are reason enough to visit Arezzo. They are simply stunning. The shop sells timed tickets and I did not have long to wait. The ticket they sold me included a visit to a temporary exhibition on jewellery underneath the church. To begin with I thought I had been sold an extra I did not want but I'm really glad I spent the time as the jewellery was fantastic and a real insight to developments in jewellery design. Once I had done that I had time to read the explanations of the story of the true cross which are displayed in the church entrance. I then went into the church itself and although it was about ten minutes to go to my time slot they let me in anyway. There are plenty of frescoes in this large church but the ones in the main alter area depicting the story of the true cross are just amazing. I looked and looked and looked. You can take as long as you want, rather surprisingly there is no climate control and photos (not flash) are allowed. It's worth bringing a guide book to explain the panels as, apart from the detail in the lobby area, there is nothing to hand to explain what you are looking at.

You can spend hours enchanted by the magic frescoes of Piero Della Francesca. Advanced booking is highly recommended.

Built in the 14 th century for the Franciscan Order, Chiesa di San Francesco is a superb example of Gothic style. The frescoes painted by Affreschi di Piero Della Francesca that decorate the chancel are extraordinary and worth the trip to Arezzo. Depicting the Legend of the True Cross, a much revered belief of the Franciscans, the murals are vivid, moving and amazingly modern. You must purchase tickets for a timed entry - the web site was not operating- but we were able to secure tickets for one hour after we arrived and availed ourselves of an excellent exhibition in the crypt of the church on Centuries of Gold from the Castellani Collection. Bring binoculars or dig out the telephoto lens to get a better view of the frescoes. Photography without flash is allowed.

The headline feature of the chapel with the masterpiece frescos by Pierro Della Francesco lives up to its billing and is very well lit. The rest of the church has many fascinating and beautiful features. When we were there they had an exhibition, in the lower level of the church, on the art and craft of the goldsmith which was expertly presented.

I was looking forward to visiting the church and seeing the Piero Della Francesca frescoes of the Story of the True Cross, and was not disappointed. The other reviews discuss how beautiful and well preserved those frescoes are so there is little for me to add in that department. Here are a few logistical tips:- there is a "timed" entrance for the visit as only so many people can be let in the apse where the frescoes are. You purchase the tickets downstairs, entrances are every 30 minutes- if you can get an entrance for the next opening, you can see a temporary exhibition downstairs (under the church, where you buy the tickets. We saw a really neat one about a dynasty of jewelers. I would never have seen this exhibition if I had not been to San Francesco)- Alternatively you can purchase tickets for an entrance 2 hours later and go have lunch (there are several good restaurants nearby). I hope you enjoy your meeting with Piero as much as we did.

If you like this artist, who invented renaissance perspective, you have to come here. Better look up the Story of the True Cross and bring binoculars.Tickets are in the crypt area underneath and are entry timed, but we had no wait on a Sunday in late july.The rest of Arezzo is a lovely place with two more outstanding churches (Duomo and Santa Maria) and relatively few tourists for the area, strangely.

Our main reason for taking the train from Florence was to see the murals at this basilica by Piero della Francesco. It was certainly worth the trip and the price of admission.

This little 14th century church is not beautiful by comparison with most of the churches and cathedrals you visit in Italy. No magnificent sculptures. No gold clad altars. It is fairly bare and crude inside, but at the back in the capella are the marvelous frescoes of Pierro della Francesca depicting "The Legend of the True Cross" These alone are worth the visit, but while we were there this summer [2014] the basement housed a wonderful gold and silver jewelry making exhibition featuring magnificent jewelery from the collection of the Castellani family.

My main motivation for going to Arezzo was to see the frescoes of the True Cross. They are behind the altar in Church of San Francesco, You have to enter into a sealed space and look up at the towering frescoes. It is absolutely worth the trip. There is a nice explanation of the themes of the frescoes as you enter the church. Once in the space, you can spend as much time as you like looking at the gorgeously-painted scenes. Piero wanted to depict the story in a way that ordinary, illiterate people of his time (1450's) could understand. The themes were interesting to me but probably not as captivating as they would have been to the believers of his time. Still, the colors, imagery and composition are so beautiful and so unusual that I found them deeply moving.There are other interesting works of art in the Church, but these frescoes are certainly the main attraction.