I’m slightly ticked at myself for taking so long to write about my adventures in beautiful Anghiari, in the province of Arezzo. I was there during my whirlwind in Sansepolcro for the Palio della Balestra earlier this month.

This small town is best known for the date of June 29, 1440 when Filippo Maria Visconti {Duke of Milan}, gave up all of his expansionist claims to the Italian Peninsula when he was defeated in a bloody battle by Florentine, Venetian and Papal Confederate troops in what is known as the Battle of Anghiari. Also the inspiration for the infamous ‘lost painting’ by Leonardo Da Vinci in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio. 

The views leading up to the town’s stone wall are heart-stoppingly beautiful. In fact no need to write about it when I can just show you exactly how amazing the panorama is. Sigh… 

Luckily for us, the sky was clear over the Tiber valley and the temperature absolutely perfect. I took one look at the huge, stone 13th century walls and wondered how a war could possibly be fought in such a steep place. In any case, I am fiercely ‘Florentine’ myself with a semi-hatred of Milan so this was an especially fun town in which to wander. We were accompanied by a few sleepy cats and glaringly obvious street-signs, via delle mura di sopra – street of the wall above, for example.

The streets are tiny, winding and often go up. Everywhere you look is a picturesque scene. Flowers overflowing a windowsill or lemon trees dotting a doorway. And of course the ubiquitous vespa.

Of course when discovering any beautiful Tuscan town, you must stop at a bar for a caffe. This one happened to make a great macchiato along with jaw-dropping views.

I could go on for days about these tiny, windy streets but I think you get the point here. If you are in the area and you don’t stop to see this place – well then perhaps you hate true beauty. This place received the Orange Flag by the Italian Touring Club for being one of the prettiest villages in Italy. After this tour of the town, we embarked on a really fun bike ride through tobacco fields to an organic farm where I stuffed my face which I can’t wait to touch on in a future post. Stay tuned.. 

What should you not miss in Anghiari? 

• Museo Statale di Palazzo Taglieschi, Piazza Mameli 16, Anghiari, Italy. Here you’ll find the famous ‘Battle of Anghiari’ painting by Michaelangelo Bonarotti.

• Busatti fabric store, via Mazzini, 14 – 52031 Anghiari (AR) Toscana. The fabrics are produced following historical procedures from over two centuries. We toured the store and got to see how the ancient weaving machines actually worked, it was quite impressive and the end result was amazing. I wanted to buy everything in the store.

Related articles

• Town of Sansepolcro and the historical Palio della Balestra (girlinflorence.com)
• The people of Sansepolcro, Italy (girlinflorence.com)