Arezzo, the city lies on a low hill of the Poti Alps and fans out on to the broad, fertile depression in the Apennine mountains, where the upper Arno and Tiber valley, the Casentino, and the Valdichiana meet. The town is the administrative and economic capital of the large province, and has over the last fifty years been transformed from a mainly farming economy into one based on industry.
The city is best known for its antiques and its artistic masterpieces by Piero della Francesca, and stained-glass marvels by Guillaume de Marcillat. Arretium was an important member of the 12-city Etruscan confederation, and it was famous in Roman times for its mass-produced corallino ceramics. In more recent times the city has received international attention as the setting for Roberto Benigni’s 1999 Oscar-winning film La Vita è Bella.
