Arezzo - Parish Church of St Mary

(Local Name: Pieve di Santa Maria) The Pieve di Santa Maria (Parish Church of St Mary), known simply as the Pieve, is the town's oldest surviving church and its most important Romanesque monument. It was already in existence in the 12th century, was destroyed and then rebuilt in the 13th century and was subsequently reconstructed, altered and restored in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries and in 1863. The church is the finest example of Pisan Romanesque in eastern Tuscany. The four-story facade on the Corso d'Italia, set in front of an earlier facade in the 13th century. The lowest story, relieved by five blind arcades, has three doorways. The dwarf galleries above this have 12 columns on the second level, 24 on the third and 32 on the fourth, creating the effect of a tapered structure. In the topmost story the columns bear a continuous architrave in place of the arches on the lower levels. Thus, in contrast to other comparable churches, the facade does not reflect the structure of the tall nave with its lower aisles. To the right of the facade is the 60m/200ft high Romanesque campanile, with five rows of double germinate windows. In the architrave and lunette of the central doorway are two early 13th century figures of the Virgin; on the archivolt, in four compartments, are bas-reliefs of the Months. The right-hand doorway has a Baptism of Christ, the left-hand one vine branches. The columns and fine capitals are notable for their variety of form. The interior is simple and severe. Over the crossing is a timber dome. Below the raised presbytery, the oldest part of the church, is the crypt. The baptistery chapel, to the right, has a beautiful font with three reliefs by Agostino di Giovanni (before 1345) of scenes from the life of John the Baptist.