Monte San Savino and Lucignano

This itinerary includes the visit of the Renaissance town of Monte San Savino, native town of Pope Julius III  and of the sculptor Andrea Contucci known as “il Sansovino”. Traces of its mediaeval past can be seen in the architecture of the Cassero (castle keep) and in its imposing tower (14th century). This structure, completely restored, houses the Ceramics Museum. The main street, Corso Sangallo, is flanked by interesting and elegant buildings: the Romanesque Pieve (parish church), built as from the 12th century, the elegant Loggia dei Mercanti attributed to Sansovino (16th century), the Town Hall building with its cloister and hanging garden, and the church of the St Augustine, erected in the 14th century and containing cycles of frescoes by Spinello Aretino. 

Lucignano. Its urban structure, based on an elliptical plan with concentric rings, makes of this village one of the most unique ones within the Arezzo territory. The Cassero (castle keep) with its high tower (14th century), which was built on the plan of the Sienese artist Bartolo di Bartolo, with a loggia featuring Renaissance shapes on the front, which was nevertheless only built during the 18th century on a drawing by Andrea Pozzo. Starting from this point and slightly walking uphill, it is possible to reach the Collegiate Church of St Michael Archangel (San Michele Arcangelo), (end of the 16th century) which was planned by Orazio Porta, boasting an elliptical access staircase which encloses the urban structure of the village. Within this church it is possible to admire very interesting works of art dating back to the 16th century.

 

A few steps away from the Collegiate Church, one can reach the square of the Law-Court with the Palace bearing the same name and immediately afterwards the Town Hall ( 13th -14th century). From this square it is possible to access the Municipal Museum, housing an interesting collection of paintings dating back to the 13th up to the 16th century (Bartolo di Fredi, Lippo Vanni, Luca Signorelli) and a magnificent tree-shaped reliquary in gold, silver, gilt copper, which is called ”the Gold Tree” of Lucignano, a work of art attributed to a team of Sienese goldsmiths, Sienese and Florentine illuminators and to Gabriello d’Antonio (14th- 15th century).

 

Alongside the Town Hall is the church of St Francis, a (13th century) Romanesque church: its façade is embellished by a Gothic portal and rose window. Its interior features frescoes by Taddeo di Bartolo and Bartolo di Fredi (Stories of St Francis, The Triumph of Death, 15th century).

Itinerary type: Small Villages to Discover