Description of the attraction
Petrarch's House is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Arezzo. In fairness, it should be said that it is not known for certain whether this 13th century house, located on Via del Orto at no. 28, was the very house in which the great Italian was born. It is known that Petrarch was born in 1304 in Arezzo, about which he himself speaks in his writings. In a letter to Boccaccio, he even mentions "a street called del Orto," and in a letter to Giovanni d'Arezzo, he describes his visit to the house where he was born on his return from Rome in 1350. Petrarch writes that he came to a small, sheltered from prying eyes street ("vicus intimus"), which was popularly known as del Orto, where he saw a house - small and very modest, but suitable for an exile like his father …
In the following years, the owner of the house was denied an extension, as the Aretinian Republic wanted to keep it in the form in which it was when the great poet lived in it. In general, historians agree that Petrarch was born on Via del Orto, but they still talk about a particular house. Some of them argue that Petrarch's house was located not at the end of the street, but, on the contrary, at its beginning. And at the corner of house No. 4 there was once a small alley leading to the city well, which could also be called “Vicus intimus”.
In any case, since the beginning of the 19th century, the beautiful Renaissance house at number 28 has been officially recognized as the House of Petrarch. In the years 1926-27, restoration work was carried out in it, during which elements of the 13th century were discovered - door arches, a tabernacle, a small window and fragments of a staircase. The building was smaller and more isolated than the rest of the houses on the street, and was entered from a small alleyway connecting Via del Orto and Via degli Albergotti. Today, entering the House of Petrarch, you can see the interior of the 13th century living quarters with your own eyes. The guides immediately show the room in which Petrarch was born and which has now been turned into a conference room. Today, the House of Petrarch is occupied by the prestigious Academy of Writing, Arts and Science named after the great poet, which was founded in 1788 and boasts a huge library of 20 thousand volumes.
