The Cathedral of San Donato

The cathedral of Arezzo is dedicated to San Donato; in 1203 Pope Innocenzo III ordered to transfer the Cathedral within the city's walls moving it from the hill of the Pionta, where, near the tomb of San Donato, the main buildings of Christian cult rose. From 1278 the construction of the cathedral, imposing gothic building, has had different phases, and was concluded only in 1511. The façade, left unfinished, was realized at the beginning of the 1900's on design of Dante Viviani. The Romanesque-gothic portal of the 14th century, on the right side, is flanked by two stumps of columns, coming from a pre-existing building (perhaps roman). The interior is divided in three majestic aisles, without transept, with five spans divided by pillars and with cros vaults. A very masterpiece of glass art is the cycle of seven stained-glass windows by Guillaume de Marcillat (1516-1517 and 1522-1524). The high altar is documented in 1362, but it was created previously; the great marble altar-piece dates back to the second half of the 1300's. In the left aisle, the precious fresco by Piero della Francesca representing Magdalene (1465) and the Cenotaph of Guido Tarlati (1330). In 1796 began the construction of the chapel of the Madonna del Conforto, frescoed by various artists; it has a neoclassical structure and it contains the great altar-piece with the Trinity between Saints Bernardo and Donato; it is a work by Andrea della Robbia (1485-1486).

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