Every first Sunday of the month and the Saturday before the Antique Fair is held in the centre of Arezzo. Founded in 1968 by antiquarian and collector Ivan Bruschi, it was the first monthly antique fair, with a prolonged success, which continued and increased with time.
For the event, in the marvellous piazza San Francesco, Piazza Grande and the Vasari Loggias, the ancient medieval hamlet is filled with stalls, antiquarians , collectors, curious visitors and tourists,. There are more than 500 exhibitors from all over Italy, which meet in the heart of Tuscany, since the local market of Arezzo is the most popular and crowded in Italy, a ”compulsory destination“ for enthusiasts and curious visitors. There are, on average, about 20,000 visitors per month, sometimes even 30,000.
Amid the stalls one can find pieces of furniture, paintings, books and ancient prints, toys, clocks, chinaware, glassware, pieces of cloth, iron or copper objects, and other ornaments. The hunt for the precious object, the missing ”item“ of a precious collection, starts already the previous evening, when the goods are still wrapped up inside the trucks, and it finishes, after long negotiations, on Sunday at sunset.
Thanks to the success of the outdoor exhibition, the stores of the craftsmen, renovators and antiquarians in Arezzo have grown in number in the past few years: today, in the city there are more than 100 antique stores, a number which increased ten times since the beginning of the exhibit: in 1968 indeed, there were not more than 15 antiquarians.
Some parallel events have recently been organized, that start on the same day as the fair: antique trade exhibits, exhibitions, with other numerous and qualified exhibitors offering their products inside prestigious galleries.
The offer in Arezzo is very wide-ranging and even the most demanding collectors and enthusiasts of art will find what they are looking for.