The city of Mæcenas, and of a whole crowd of famous men of later times,
shows no outward signs of being much frequented by travellers. There is
some difficulty there in getting so much as an Italian newspaper, and,
though excellent photographs have been taken of some of the chief
buildings, they must be sought for at Florence, they are not to be bought at
Arezzo. Yet the old Etruscan city has many attractions, among them surely
the singular cleanness of its streets, and, above all, that clear and pure air
which is thought to have had something to do with nourishing the genius
of so many of its citizens in so many different ways. Perhaps, on the
whole, Arezzo does not suffer from not having yet put on the cosmopolitan
character of some of its neighbours. And if the city does not, either as
Arretium or as Arezzo, stand forth in the first rank of Italian cities, still it
has a long history under both forms of its name. If, again, its buildings do
not rank with those of Pisa or Lucca, still there is quite enough both in the
general aspect of the city, and in some particular objects within its walls, to
claim a day or two's sojourn from any one who is not eager to rush from
Florence to Rome as fast as the so-called express train can carry him.