The Pieve (Parish) of Santa Maria is a fascinating church to visit! It dates back to the 3rd century AD when it was actually outside the city walls. Now it's well inside and it encapsulates many historical and aesthetic periods.
Dating back to the Etruscan age is this well that was incorporated into the church and used as a baptismal fount.
It's Etruscan, it's Romanesque, it's Gothic, it's totally my thing:
It houses a relic of San Donato. He was born in Arezzo, was a Roman bishop during the 4th century and was martyred via decapitation under the Emperor Julian? Chi sa? His body is in a tomb in the Duomo, which I'll show you later. But apparently his head is here.... that's some crazy good stuff:
And this statue of Santa Lucia. She is the patron saint of the blind and her martyrdom story is like many others: confused, varied, allegorical, and brutal. There are several versions. She was born in circa 283 in Syracuse, in the Roman empire. Her father died when she was young which left she and her mother a bit vulnerable. Somehow she gets wind of this Christian god idea and decides to devote her virginity (it's always that) to God. Her mother, being pragmatic, arranges for Lucy to marry a wealthy Roman (re: pagan). She refuses! Her betrothed is tight with the governor of Syracuse, Paschasius, who decides to torture her by selling her to a brothel where she was apparently defiled repeatedly. Quelle scumbag! The Lucy has this vision that tells her Paschasius is going to be punished, humiliated and killed. THIS inspires him to have her eyes gouged out so that she will never have any vision whatsoever.
Here she is, with her eyes on a platter:
The well, the eyeballs, the sheer drama of it all!
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