Arezzo Antique Market

The Arezzo antiques market, "Fiera Antiquaria", which takes place the first Sunday of every month, is arguably the best in Tuscany. In particular, the first Sunday in June, when vendors from all over the country turn up with their treasures, is the be-all-and-end-all antique market in all of Italy.  Vendors take over the upper area of the city from the Basilica of San Francesco right past the duomo (cathedral) to sell antiques, paintings, jewelry, sculpture, crèche figures, prints, and curios of every nature imaginable.  My husband and I were fortunate to be in Arezzo on that very special first Sunday in June a couple of years ago.  The vendor pictured above had all sorts of wrought iron and stone objects for sale.  The two of us actually had an insane conversation on how we might get the iron gazebo looming over everything else home with us.

The central piazza in the town (pictured above) was jammed with umbrella covered tables holding antique and vintage trousseaus, linens, lace work, old castle keys, glass wear, vessels of every kind, old books, entire stone fountains, statuary, broken columns, ancient mantle pieces, and unidentifiable antiquities that boggled my mind.  Every street that led off the piazza was also crammed with umbrellas and vendors.  The shear scale of this event, and the amount of antiques for sale was just unbelievable.  (And so was the crowd!)   Just think, every first Sunday of the month, the town devotes itself to a smaller scale extravaganza than the one shown above.

I came home only with things I could pack in my suitcase:  vintage hankies and other linens, an old volume of Alice in Wonderland (in Italian!), and castle keys.  Actually, I am just fantasizing that these seven or eight inch long cast iron keys open castle doors…It is more likely they are the keys to the barn, but don’t spoil my fun!  They look interesting in a large decorative footed dish I have on my coffee table.

(Note:  I am on vacation until April 5, and won’t be able to respond to your comments until then).