A VISIT TO LA VERNIA 
1884 
“ Salve Mons felix Sinai felicior illo 
Scripsit ubi Moysi jura sacrata Deus, 
Te super apparens Crucifixus tua refulsit 
Francisco oranti Stigmata sacra dedit.” 
Fra Lucido. 
Arezzo is one of those Tuscan cities which is the most 
easy of access, and the most seldom visited by ordi¬ 
nary travellers. The very fact that it is only three 
hours by train from Florence, and lies on the main 
line to Rome, rather tends to produce this result. 
Yet Arezzo offers many attractions both to the student 
of art and history, and those who can devote a few 
days to the study of its antiquities will find the time 
well spent. 
In the first place, Arezzo is a bright and pleasant 
town, prettily situated on a sloping hill, which rises 
gently from the Val Chiana, and surrounded by 
loftier mountains. It is famous for the lightness 
and salubrity of its air, which, as long ago as Giovanni 
Villani’s days, was popularly supposed to impart a 
certain delicacy and refinement of intellect—in the 
words of Michael Angelo, “ sottilitd ”—to its natives. 
253 
