If the sloping Piazza Grande looks familiar, it's because it served as a setting for Roberto Benigni's film, Life is Beautiful.


If the sloping Piazza Grande looks familiar, it's because it served as a setting for Roberto Benigni's film, Life is Beautiful. The entire north side is formed by Vasari's graceful colonnade on Palazzo delle Logge, and the rounded apse of Santa Maria della Pieve extends into the western corner beside the 14th-century Palazzo della Faternitaå dei Laici. Its striking facade was begun in Gothic style by Baldino di Cino in 1375, continued in Renaissance style by Bernardo Rossellino in 1433, and completed in 1460. The bell tower was added by Giorgio Vasari in the 16th century, and in it is one of Italy's oldest working clocks, dating from 1552. Piazza Grande is the scene of the Giostra del Saracino, a medieval joust performed on the first Sunday in September, and an antiques fair the first full weekend of each month.


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Photo credit: © Manfred Glueck / Alamy / Afripics
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