Turistic informations of Cortona

Cortona is an interesting town especially for natural purpose and it has a panoramical position on a steep butress in the Appennini close to Valdichiana. It is an important etruscan centre and it was a free town and then it followed the fortunes of the Granducato of Tuscany. With its borough, where the stone is predominant, it is typical for its strong unevenesses and for its jutting facades supported by wood consoles and encircled by the medioeval walls, where there are parts of the old etruscan town-walls.

The city centre of Cortona: By the street which leads to the hamlet of Camucia, where is the church of Madonna del Calcinaio, a building of the XVI century with a central plan, a simple outside which is surmounted by an octagonal cupola; inside there are a lot of architectonic elements that go back to Brunelleschi. The city centre is marked by the square, piazza della Repubblica, where are two buildings whose origins go back to 200: Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo and Palazzo Comunale. The museum, Museo dell'Accademia Etrusca, is really notable. There are exposed lots of etruscan, egyptian and roman finds, old coins, cameos and thimbles. Near the Dome we find another museum, Museo Diocesiano, where are exposed the works of Beato Angelico, Luca Signorelli and the famous Vagnucci di Giusto from Florence. Going up to the sanctuary, Santuario di S. Margherita, is the tomb in gothic style where rests the corpse of the Saint; not far away from Fortezza Medicea you can enjoy an immense panoramical view.

Enogastronomy

Cortona is encircled by numerous agricultural companies, where they are specialized in the production of wine and oil. Not by chance the specialization of the local producers contributes to the typical denomination of the wine Cortona DOC, an exclusive product of the town of Cortona with systems over 250 metres. The tradition and the historical knowledge testified that the wine production goes back to the etruscan age when, thanks to the climatic condition of the area, they implanted the vine with a special tecnique which uses a support coonecting the vine with other plants. Considered the great variety of wines, Cortona wine is good with a lot of dishes: from the first course to the meat, to game and obviously, to cakes and biscuites especially with Vin Santo.

Link Utili

• www.arezzocitta.com/cortona.html
• www.tuscansunfestival.com
• www.accademia-etrusca.org