Sansepolcro and Anghiari

The thousand-year-old city of Sansepolcro offers visitors the chance to grasp the various historical, architectural and artistic aspects of this part of the territory located at the extreme edge of Tuscany, but bordering on Romagna, Marche and Umbria. The wealth in churches and historic buildings testifies to its importance, and traditions also play a significant part in the life of the town.

The half-day visit includes the Cathedral, the ancient Camaldolese Abbey, an interesting example of a religious building that preserves Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque architecture inside. Of great interest are the works that enrich it including Perugino’s Ascension and the splendid Holy Face, a very important wooden sculpture from the Carolingian period (8th-9th centuries). Continue with a visit to the historic Torre di Berta Square and Via XX Settembre lined with medieval tower houses. Optionally, you can visit the Church of St. Francis, a Gothic church that preserves an interesting marble altar from the 14th century as well as paintings from the Biturgense school, or the Church of St. Anthony Abbot, which houses Luca Signorelli’s “Stendardo della Crocifissione.”

*To this tour can be added the Museo Civico, which is currently hosting the Exhibition “In the Sign of Roberto Longhi – Piero della Francesca and Caravaggio.” The Exhibition takes place within the halls of the Civic Museum of Sansepolcro, where some of the most important works by Piero della Francesca, a 15th-century artist who was born and lived in Sansepolcro, known for his use of real perspective and who has been instrumental in the development of Art History from the 15th century to the present day, are preserved. The aforementioned works are the “Resurrection” considered his absolute masterpiece, the “Polyptych of Mercy,” the “Saint Julian” and the “Saint Louis of Toulouse.” To these are added, on the occasion of the Exhibition, Caravaggio’s “Boy Bitten by the Lizard,” an exalted example of seventeenth-century art, and the fifteenth-century “Portrait of a Young Man” by Ercole de’ Roberti to create a logical thread between Piero’s painting and his influences through his time and the following centuries thanks to the in-depth analysis of Roberto Longhi, one of the most eminent scholars of Piero della Francesca, and not only, of the twentieth century.

Voted “One of the Most Beautiful Villages in Italy,” Anghiari immediately appears to the visitor as a place almost out of time, with its medieval streets and the recently brought to light patrol walkway that passes under the circular apse of the church of St. Augustine. Along the way you will encounter the Camaldolese Abbey of St. Bartholomew, the oldest church in Anghiari, with its distinctive architecture (almost with certainty the first building was a rupestrian church), the Praetorian Palace, the Prepositura, which preserves a terracotta by Andrea della Robbia and paintings from the 1500s and 1600s (Domenico Puligo’s Deposition and Sogliani’s Last Supper and Foot Washing), and the Church of St. Augustine itself. The visit to the historic center can be completed with entry to the Museo della Battaglia, so called because the famous Battle of Anghiari of 1440 is commemorated here through the work of the same title by Leonardo da Vinci, which has never been found, and/or with entry to the Museo Taglieschi, which tells the story of the life and traditions of Anghiari and the Valtiberina.

The cost of admission tickets is not included in the fee charged for the itinerary.