In short: Piero della Francesca’s Legend of the True Cross is in the Bacci Chapel of the Basilica of San Francesco, in central Arezzo. Visits are by reservation only (max 30 people every 30 minutes); tickets cost €6 full or €2 reduced plus a €3 booking fee, and the basilica is closed on Wednesdays. Il Poggiolino d’Oro is 12-15 minutes away by car, and in one day you can add Monterchi, Sansepolcro and Ponte Buriano.
The Legend of the True Cross
Painted by Piero della Francesca in the main chapel of San Francesco from the 1450s, the cycle tells the story of the wood of Christ’s cross, from the tree planted on Adam’s grave to the cross’s return to Jerusalem. It is one of the masterpieces of Renaissance painting: clear light, geometry, still and solemn figures.
Hours, tickets and booking
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Basilica hours | Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat 9:00-18:00 · Sun 13:00-17:30 · closed Wednesday |
| Ticket | full €6, reduced €2, free entry: always + €3 booking fee |
| Combined ticket | with Casa Vasari and the Archaeological Museum: €20 full, €11 reduced |
| Booking | required: max 30 people every 30 minutes; groups over 20 via info@arezzointour.it |
| Contacts | tel. +39 0575 1696256 · discoverarezzo.ticka.it |
Book on discoverarezzo.ticka.it a few days ahead, especially at weekends and during the Antique Fair. Source: Italian Ministry of Culture. Hours and prices may change: check before your visit.
From the apartment: park at the Pietri car park, take the escalators and you are in Piazza San Francesco in a 5-minute walk. Nearby, in the Cathedral, is another work by Piero: the fresco of Mary Magdalene.
The Piero trail: Monterchi and Sansepolcro
Madonna del Parto
The only pregnant Madonna of the Renaissance, in the museum at Via della Reglia 1. Hours: October-February daily 10-13 and 14-17, March-September 9-13 and 14-19; closed 25 December (madonnadelparto.it).
The Resurrection
Piero’s home town: the Civic Museum holds the Resurrection and the Polyptych of the Misericordia. Hours and tickets on the museum’s website.
The Mona Lisa bridge
A 13th-century bridge over the Arno (1277). Historian Carlo Starnazzi identified it as the bridge Leonardo da Vinci painted behind the Mona Lisa; other scholars point to the Ponte Romito at Laterina. Best at sunset.
One-day itinerary from Il Poggiolino d’Oro
- Morning in Arezzo: The Legend of the True Cross in the Basilica of San Francesco (booking required), then Piero's Mary Magdalene in the Cathedral and lunch near Piazza Grande.
- Afternoon on the Piero trail: The Madonna del Parto in Monterchi (about 35-40 minutes from the apartment) and the Resurrection in the Civic Museum of Sansepolcro, Piero's home town.
- At sunset: Drive back over Ponte Buriano, 15 minutes from the apartment: the 13th-century bridge many scholars see in the background of the Mona Lisa.
Il Poggiolino d’Oro is 5 minutes from the A1 Arezzo exit, outside the limited traffic zone, with free parking in front of the house: the easiest base for an art tour by car. More things to do in Arezzo.
Updated 25 October 2026.
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