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ANGHIARI
History and Culture
A village with a strong turist calling, thanks to its enchanting panoramas, Anghiari boasts its ancient origins and presents to its visitors its medieval characteristical aspects, situated in a domino like slope between the valleys of the Tevere and the Sovara. Already beautiful to observe from the plain, roaming through the antique village with its picturesque stone houses, narrows roads, steps, its suggestive village squares, witness to valuable history handed down through the centuries, is even more charming.
It is certain that it was during the Medieval that Anghiari reached its maximum importance, above all for its evident, strategic position. The village was remembered for the first time in the 11th century, although its first settlements were Roman.
First dominated by the Lords of Galbino and then by the Camaldolesi, the village lived one of its most important moments of history with the Battle of Anghiari, that in 1440, saw the fight between the Milanese and the Florentines allied with the Pope. The Battle was commanded by Machiavelli and painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. Primarily, it is probably because of these facts that Anghiari made history. Also to be visited in Anghiari is the Palazzo (Palace) Taglieschi with its National Museum of Arts and Popular Tradition, where frescos, paintings, wooden sculptures (remarkable the Mother Mary with Baby Jesus by Jacopo della Quercia), valuable terrecotte, statuettes, sacred furnishings from various epochs, instruments and weapons that are proof of a long past of workmanship and craftsmanship by the Anghiarians.
It are these craftsman today who hand down a lively tradition of art in iron and in wood and have drawn Anghiari to organize the Mostra Mercato dell'Artiginato della Valtiberina.
(The Market Show of Craftsmanship of the Valley).
Between the end of April and the beginning of May, this annual appointment delights in a large outcome. The deep tie that joins this skilled exhibition are the boutiques of the historical center, some of the most appreciated in central Italy, elating the discovery of Anghiari even more; a village balanced by routines far from those of a highway or a loop, where going just a few steps from the center is enough to find yourself in the peace of silent paths immersed in the green of fields or the silver of olive groves.
In all of Italy and abroad Anghiari is known as the pillar for Art and restoration of antique furniture, with expert antiquity restoration connected to the history of The Institute of Art, a unique school which is working on building the future site of "Advanced courses for Art and Restoration", and to obtain, with the restructuring of Palazzo (Palace) Testi, the premises to host students and apprentices from all over the world.
Let us not forget that if sleeping quarters are enjoyable, inviting as well is the Anghiarian cuisine, with its typical Tuscany dishes served in ancient environments where you are likely to find yourself sitting next to a film star, a famous journalist or a noted political figure. To all of this you can add the magic atmosphere of evening feasts, dinners organized in front of a courtyard of a Roman Parish or at the entranceway of a villa in the old village, with popular folksongs and theater, so near to the uninhibited spirit that accompanies the Scampanata, a rare event that repeats itself every five years in the streets of the town.
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