Welcome to
Sansepolcro
from Jesse's Journeys in Italy
Population: 15,923
(2004)
Official website:
Sansepolcro
Wikipedia:
Sansepolcro
Map:
MapQuest
Sansepolcro - or Borgo San
Sepolcro as it is also known
- is a town on the western
borders of
Tuscany
in the upper reaches of the
Tiber River Valley, a hop skip
and jump from
Umbria,
the Marche and
Emilia Romagna.
Although Sansepolcro has not
been overly blessed by great
architecture or splendid
monuments, it is a pleasant
place to spend time after
driving through the verdant
Tuscan (and Umbrian) countryside
that surrounds the town.
The recently renovated
Romanesque
"cathedral", dedicated to San
Giovanni di Evangelista,
incorporates a few
Gothic
and
Renaissance
touches, there is a 16th century
fortress, and a few palazzos
representing Gothic, Renaissance
and Mannerist traditions (Palazzo Pichi, Palazzo Giovagnoli, Palazzo Rigi,
Casa Piero della
Francesca).
In short, Sansepolcro's old
quarters branching off its main
street, the ancient Via
Matteotti, are a pleasant
stroll and, when hunger strikes,
you can sit to a very good
Tuscan lunch or dinner at
Fiorentino's.
Sansepolcro does have various
claims fame. It is, for
instance, the terminus of the
FCU railway, a privately owned
concern that serves the region.
It is also headquarters of
Buitoni,
one of Italy's largest and most
successful pasta manufacturers.
But, Sansepolcro is
principally distinguished as the
birth - and resting - place of
the great, and extremely
influential
Renaissance
painter,
Piero della Francesca
(1420-1492 AD). Two lesser
lights, the mannerist painter,
Raffaellino del Colle
(1490-1566 AD)and
the proto-Baroque painter and
architect,
Santi di Tito,
(1538-1603 AD)
were also sons of Sansepolcro.
It is not surprising, therefore,
that the towns people take great
pride in their Civic Museum and
Gallery (Museo Civico)
where works of these, and other
artists, including a piece by
Luca Signorelli, can be
viewed along with a wide variety
of artifacts and objet d'art
dating to a time before
Sansepolcro was said to be
founded, in 1000 AD or so.
Of particular note is an
indisputable masterpiece,
Piero's painting of the
Resurrection, which he
painted in 1463 AD.
As to Sansepolcro's history,
much is lost in the mists of
time. It was said to be
founded in 1000 AD by two
pilgrims returning from
Jerusalem. Legend has it
they built an oratory around
relics they claimed had come
from Christ's sepulcher - hence
the name "San Sepulcro".
The
Benedictines established an
abbey here in about 1012 and
more or less governed the town,
but it soon came under the
control of a local family, the
Camaldolesi. By the
early part of the 13th century,
the town was under the aegis of
the city of
Arezzo,
then of
Perugia. By 1441 AD it
was absorbed into the territory
ruled by the
Florentine Republic, where
it stayed until it was overtaken
by the powerful Lorena dukedom,
whose rule was ended by the
Napoleonic conquest.
The Treaty of Vienna
restored Sansepolcro to the
Grand Duchy of Tuscany where
it remained until the Duchy was
absorbed into the modern state
of Italy in 1861.
Today, tourism, woodworking,
gold-smithing and earthenware
pottery manufacture supplement
the economic activity of the
larger food processing and
confectionary industries that
find their home in Sansepolcro.
Art lovers devoted to Piero
must visit Sansepolcro
because The Resurrection
must be seen.
Others may find there way here
simply because an exploration of
western Tuscany is a wonderful
way to spend a day or two.
In either case, a visit to the
town will not disappoint.
by Vian Andrews,
September 5th, 2006 |
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Region of Tuscany |
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43°34′N 12°09′E |
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Distances |
Anghiari - 11 km;
Citta di Castello - 18 km;
Arezzo - 40 km;
Montepulciano - 87 km;
Perugia - 70 km;
Siena - 100 km:
Florence - 117 km;
Lucca - 186 km;
Pisa - 220 km;
Rome - 236 km |
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Directory |
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Places to stay near
Sansepolcro |
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Country House Torre
del Guado
Villa La
Castellaccia |
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Coat of Arms of
Sansepolcro |
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The Resurrection, by Piero, in the Pinacoteca of
Sansepolcro |
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During his last
years, Piero wrote
two major treatises
on art: On the Five Regular Bodies,
which analyzed the
symmetry and
geometry of the
human body, and
On Perspective in
Painting in which Piero laid out the rules for
mathematical
perspective in
painting. Both
books were
"mandatory" reading
for Renaissance
artists. |
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Did Piero's
Resurrection
save Sansepulcro
from allied bombing
during WW2?
Some say that the
city, a local Axis
headquarters was to
be bombed, but that
the officer in
charge, knowing that
Aldous Huxley
had declared the
Resurrection the
most important
painting in the
world, scotched the
bomb run. |
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Other notable
ancient churches in
Sansepolcro are Chiesa di San Francesco, the
Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie, the
Chiesa di San Rocco,
and the
Chiesa di Sant’Agostino. |
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Festivals and
events: The
"Palio della Balestra" (Crossbow Tournament) held
every
year on the second Sunday of September. Everyone decks out in Medieval costume. |
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