Cortona
Cortona lays peacefully on the side of Mount Saint Egidio, like an old man sleeping, a popular Italian song says
. This ancient city is still surprisingly surrounded by the Etruscan walls, thus keeping the same shape and extension as more than 2500 years ago. Piazza Garibaldi, the square considered the “city balcony”, offers a breathtaking view that spreads from Chiana Valley to Lake Trasimeno. You can almost hear Hannibal’s troops marching towards the Romans: the 217 b.C. battle of Trasimeno , one of the most important military events in Roman history, was undoubtedly clearly visible from up here. Cortona owns a rather evident Medieval charme, that has the merit of giving the old city a severe, but at the same time livelyl and intriguing look: history (one should not miss a visit to MAEC, the Etruscan Academy Museum www.cortonamaec.org), art (Beato Angelico’s and Luca Signorelli’s works, just to mention two, are admirable in the tiny but stunning Museo Diocesano ) and spirituality meet on the local grey stone. Beyond the more than 20 churches and 8 convents that once marked the city, Cortona has also been a place of sanctity: Saint Margherita, the Patron Saint of Cortona who lived at I Palazzi in the XIII century, and Saint Francis, who there founded the Celle monastery , a true gem of meditation and emotions where still nowadays Francescan monks, called “Cappuccini”, respectfully guard the Saint’s room. It’s also not to forget that, wandering around the small alleys of the old city, or going for a nice walk on the Ruga Piana, the shopping street, you could make a way more profane encounter with the Italian famous award-winning singer Lorenzo Cherubini, internationally known as Jovanotti, proud citizen of Cortona. Not to miss: Cortona Mix Festival www.mixfestival.it , interesting cultural appointment that takes place along the last week of July and the first one of August; the Cortona Antique Fair www.cortonantiquaria.it for antiques’ passionate in September; Cortona on the Move www.cortonaonthemove.com , international festival and photography kermesse , that offers the chance to enter the private courtyards of ancient buildings of the historical centre throughout the summer.
And a lot more…
