Cortona

Cortona holds a ridge some five hundred metres up with the Valdichiana plain and Lake Trasimeno spread below, and its streets run steeply enough that many are stairs. It was one of the twelve cities of the Etruscan league, and the museum holds the Cortona lamp, a bronze chandelier of the fourth century BC weighing nearly sixty kilos, cast with sixteen figures around its rim, whose purpose and workshop are still argued over. Tombs called meloni sit on the plain below. Luca Signorelli and Pietro da Cortona were born here. The book Under the Tuscan Sun made the town internationally known in the 1990s.

History

An Etruscan presence is found from the late Villanovan period, and between the 8th and 7th centuries BC Cortona became an important member of the Etruscan League. In the 4th century BC the Etruscans built the walls that run around the city for about 3 km, the "melon" tombs around it and the funerary altar of Tumulus II of the Sodo (Wikipedia, Cortona).

The main sights

• The Etruscan lamp - a 60-kilo bronze chandelier of the fourth century BC.
• The ridge position - the Valdichiana and Lake Trasimeno spread below.
• The Diocesan museum - Fra Angelico's Annunciation and Signorelli works.
• The tombs below - Etruscan tumuli on the plain outside town.

When to go

April to October; summer weekends and the Tuscan Sun festival crowd the small centre. Winter is quiet with many places closed.

Good to know

The town is very steep, with stepped streets and hard walking. Parking is outside the walls with a climb in. Prices reflect its fame.

Nearby

Lake Trasimeno lies east in Umbria; Arezzo is north.

Key facts