CORTONA - TOSCANA

Was one of the twelve cities of the Etruscan League – substantial fragments of its primitive cyclopean defences can still be seen, incorporated in the medieval walls.

Apart from a few fine Renaissance palaces, the prevailing character of Cortona’s architecture is medieval, conferring on the steep narrow streets a strong sense of atmosphere. The city is commandingly situated (altitude 600 metres) and there are magnificent panoramas to every point of the compass, embracing the whole of the Valdichiana.

Prominent among many art works of various periods in the Museum of the Accademia Etrusca are the Etruscan chandelier known as the "lamp of Cortona", one of the most celebrated bronzes of antiquity, and the "Polymnia Muse", an encaustic painting of the Roman era, of remarkable beauty.

The Diocesan Museum displays works of Luca Signorelli, distinguished Renaissance painter and native of Cortona, and a much-admired "Annunciation" by Fra Angelico.

The most important medieval buildings are the churches of S. Francesco and S. Domenico and the Palazzo Casale, which has a Renaissance façade. In these, and in the Renaissance churches of S. Maria Nuova and S. Nicolò, valuable works of art are preserved.

S. Maria Nuova

Porta Montanina

The neighbourhood of Cortona is dotted with Etruscan monuments: the tomb called "Den of Pythagoras" (2nd century BC) in the Cannaia district; Etruscan tombs and a hypogeum (6^th ^{and 7th} centuries BC) in the Sodo district. Among the evocative holy places are the romanesque church of S. Angelo in the Metelliano district, the beautiful church of S. Maria delle Grazie (16^th century) at Calcinaio and the convent of the Celle, founded by Saint Francis of Assisi.

Severini’s "Via Crucis" (20^th century) accompanies the mystic ascent linking the inhabited centre with the sanctuary of S. Margherita which towers above the town and which, in its turn, is overshadowed by the powerful defences of Girifalco fortress.

Fortezza del Girifalco.