Tours / Cortona: the most beautiful village under the Tuscan sun

Cortona is the village of Etruscan origin most loved by those who visit the Tuscan countryside.

It is the typical example of a small village perched on the hill, with stone houses, emerging from a perfect countryside, almost painted by the brush of a painter. An anthropized countryside, cared for by man down to the smallest details, with haystacks, cypresses, rows of vines and olive trees. In the nineties, the American writer Frances Mayes fell in love with this village, still unknown to the world, which embodies the authentic Italian tradition. Frances Mayes wrote the best-selling novel "Under the Tuscan Sun" and launched Cortona on the tourist fashion catwalks. Everyone was and still is curious to see Cortona and is literally bewitched by it. So let's go and discover this wonderland! The first stop on our walk will be Piazza della Repubblica, where the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo and the Palazzo Comunale stand out, medieval buildings. Note the particular staircase of the Town Hall and the sixteenth century tower. We then continue to Piazza Signorelli, a famous Renaissance painter, who was born in this town.

The museum of the Etruscan Academy is located in Piazza Signorelli, inside Palazzo Casali and contains an Etruscan chandelier, a unique find, for which it is known that the Museum paid for it with a bank loan taken out in 1840 and completed in 2001.

Entrance to the museum is not included in the tour, but enthusiasts can ask the guide, who will gladly make a quick detour through the museum. We then resume our walk to arrive in Piazza del Duomo, the fourteenth-century Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. Inside you can admire several masterpieces, including the Adoration of the Shepherds by Pietro da Cortona. If we still have time, we will reach the Girifalco Fortress, in any case the ancient walls of Cortona will be visible during our walk. Three kilometers of Etruscan, then Roman, then medieval and finally Renaissance city walls, with its monumental gates, such as the Porta Bifora, the oldest gate, of Etruscan origin.

But at the end of the tour, what do we recommend eating in Cortona? Definitely the penne al “fumo”, typical Cortonese pasta with soft smoked bacon.
Have fun and enjoy your meal!