Situation
Arezzo, capital of the province of the same name, lies in northeastern Tuscany some 80km/50mi southeast of Florence and near the left bank of the Arno.
History and art
Umbrians and the Etruscans settled on the hill which rises above the surrounding
fertile countryside. The Roman military post was founded here by Gaius Maecenas (c. 70-8 B.C.); he was a friend of Augustus and used his influence to promote the poets who came to visit the Emperor's palace. Arezzo was the birthplace of Guido Monaco (Guido of Arezzo, c. 990-1050), who invented our system of musical notation, Francesco Petrarca (1304-74), the great poet and father of humanism and the satirical poet Pietro Aretino (1492-1556).
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