La vita è bella · Roberto Benigni · 1997
Arezzo plays the small Tuscan town of the film’s first half. This page stays there: a sloping square, a theatre, a bookshop, a cathedral and a villa up the valley. The camp scenes were built elsewhere and are not part of it.
The keys
In Piazza Grande Guido shouts up to a balcony and the keys come down to him. Pick one of eight tags, lower its key to the square and catch it to open the place.
0 keys caught of 8
The key hangs at the balcony with the tag for Piazza Grande. Lower it.
The key is still on its string.
Lower it all the way to catch it.
Where the sources differ
The ride and the fall are among the film’s best-known moments. Wikipedia and Summer In Italy put the fall at the Badia. La Nazione puts the ride in Piazza Grande. Both squares are a few minutes apart on foot.
Wikipedia and Summer In Italy
Wikipedia says the scene where Benigni falls off a bicycle onto Nicoletta Braschi was filmed in front of this abbey.
Summer In Italy places the bicycle scene with Guido, Dora and their young son in Piazza della Badia.
La Nazione
La Nazione puts the bicycle ride of Guido, Dora and Giosuè here, and says the scene was used for the poster. It also places the shout of “Maria, la chiave!” under the square’s balconies.
Arezzo old town
Live marketplace results for walks of Arezzo’s old town, which take in Piazza Grande. Check each route before booking.
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The six Arezzo places are within a short walk of each other. Villa Masini in Montevarchi is not pinned and its access has not been checked, so treat it as a place to know about, not to turn up at.
7 places you can visit in Arezzo and Cortona. Villa Masini is described but not pinned.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
Area reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A public square in the old town, open at any hour. Its slope is easy to see on foot.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The abbey stands on Via Cavour and its square is public. The church opens at its own hours.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Arezzo’s city theatre. The street front is public; inside only for a performance or a tour you have booked.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working cathedral on the hill above the old town. The steps and square are public; visit the church outside services.
Area reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A bookshop and stationer on Via Borgunto. The pin marks the street, not the door; the photograph shows other doors on the street.
Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A café on the square beside the church of San Francesco. Open to customers in the usual way.
Arezzo old town · Piazza Grande, Arezzo
Wikipedia says the film was shot in the historic centre of Arezzo.
A public square in the old town, open at any hour. Its slope is easy to see on foot.
Arezzo old town · Badia delle Sante Flora e Lucilla, Via Cavour, Arezzo
Wikipedia says the scene where Benigni falls off a bicycle onto Nicoletta Braschi was filmed in front of this abbey.
The abbey stands on Via Cavour and its square is public. The church opens at its own hours.
Arezzo old town · Via Guido Monaco 12, Arezzo
Summer In Italy says the city theatre played the opera house where Guido sees his princess and watches her instead of the opera.
Arezzo’s city theatre. The street front is public; inside only for a performance or a tour you have booked.
Arezzo old town · Piazza del Duomo, Arezzo
La Nazione lists the cathedral steps for the vintage car scene in the storm.
A working cathedral on the hill above the old town. The steps and square are public; visit the church outside services.
Arezzo old town · Via Borgunto, Arezzo
Siviaggia lists Cartolibreria Orefice on Via Borgunto as Guido’s bookshop, decorated with film memorabilia.
A bookshop and stationer on Via Borgunto. The pin marks the street, not the door; the photograph shows other doors on the street.
Arezzo old town · Piazza San Francesco, Arezzo
Summer In Italy says Piazza San Francesco and Caffè dei Costanti both appear in the film, without naming the scene.
A café on the square beside the church of San Francesco. Open to customers in the usual way.
Stay
A hotel a few steps from Piazza Grande.
Piazza Guido Monaco, Arezzo
A four-star hotel on Piazza Guido Monaco, about 200 metres from the station, with Piazza Grande a few steps away by its own account. Pictured: Teatro Petrarca on Via Guido Monaco, 2015.
Check roomsGo there
Walking tours of Arezzo’s old town, and Cortona for the theatre on its square.
Arezzo old town
Live marketplace results for walks of Arezzo’s old town, which take in Piazza Grande. Check each route before booking.
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Live marketplace results for Cortona, where Teatro Signorelli stands. Check which routes pass the main square.
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Nothing dated for the film is listed at these places now.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
8 of 8 places · 7 of 7 stories
Piazza Grande, Arezzo
Guido shouts for the keys under the balconies of Piazza Grande and they land at his feet.
Badia delle Sante Flora e Lucilla, Via Cavour, Arezzo
Guido falls off a bicycle onto Dora in front of the abbey, in Wikipedia’s and Summer In Italy’s accounts.
Via Guido Monaco 12, Arezzo
Guido watches his princess from the seats of the city theatre instead of the opera.
Piazza del Duomo, Arezzo
A vintage car and a red carpet on the cathedral steps in the rain.
Via Borgunto, Arezzo
Guido’s bookshop is a stationer on Via Borgunto.
Piazza San Francesco, Arezzo
Via del Pestello 22-24, Montevarchi
The scene with the green-painted horse is filmed at Villa Masini.
Piazza Luca Signorelli, Cortona
Guido first meets his princess at the entrance of Teatro Signorelli in Cortona.
Every place in Life Is Beautiful leads somewhere else.
