Cortona Italy | Things To Do in Tuscany Destinations
The hill town of Cortona in Italy is a relatively peaceful Tuscany destination. After rushing around all the things to do in Tuscany cities such as Florence and Siena, Cortona offers a welcome change in pace.
Walk up to the Fortezza del Girifalco and enjoy the beautiful view from Cortona down the valley, afternoon siestas in Cortona Town Hall Square as you drink coffee and watch life go by.
If you are looking for nightlife then Cortona is not the place for you, but there are a number of other things to do in Cortona including churches and monuments. The walk up to Fortezza Del Girifalco is worth the climb for the views over the Tuscany Countryside.
On my walk to the top of the hill I will show you some of the things to do in Cortona as a tourist in Tuscany including:
Cortona Cathedral
Cortona Town Hall
Teatro Signorelli
The Garibaldi Memorial Monument
Church of San Francesco
Hermitage Le Celle
Basilica di Santa Margherita
and last, and maybe even least considering the entrance fee, the Fortezza del Girifalco.
I enjoyed wandering round the Fortezza del Girifalco, there is lots of history there and I like to wander around ruined castles and forts, however I do not feel that it was worth the 5 Euro entry fee.
All the music in this travel video is taken from a live outdoor classical music performance in Cortona.
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CORTONA, ITALY - travel shorts
Cortona, Italy is one of the most famous the Tuscan hill towns although it's important to realise that Cortona is more of a Tuscany hillside town than hilltop town and consequently has a great many steep streets and lanes and only one horizontal one - by no means unique in this part of Italy. Nevertheless, for anyone visiting central Italy, the sights of Cortona are definitely worth a day at the very least, preferably two days. The Cortona Museums house world-class art, ranging from Etruscan and Egyptian in the Cortona Etruscan Museum, through early Renaissance in the Cortona Diocesan Museum. Cortona is well-endowed with a variety of Renaissance architecture even though the prevalent character of the townscape is mediaeval. The main piazza of Cortona, Italy, Piazza della Repubblica, has a wonderful ambience and forms the focal centre of Cortona. The highest point on the hill of Cortona is dominated by a huge Medicean fort from which the visitor can admire not only the town but the entire Val di Chiana.
Cortona has an active calendar of performing arts events, and hosts a famous annual antiques exhibition, the Cortonantiquaria, as well as a monthly antiques and bric-a-brac market. There is also a not-to-be-missed folkloric crossbow competition, the Giostra dell'Archidado on the last last day of Cortona Mediaeval Week in late May or early June.
Cortona is easily accessed by rail from Rome and Florence but the nearest station is Camucia-Cortona, three km away, requiring a bus or taxi ride to reach the centre of Cortona. Walking uphill to Cortona proper is for the fit only but one is rewarded by access to a number of Etruscan tombs along the route.
Tuscany Vacation Travel Guide | Expedia
Tuscany is a legendary region in central Italy that stretches from the Apennine Mountains to the west coast, meandering through endless vineyards, medieval towns and the impossibly beautiful cities of Florence, Siena and Pisa.
In today’s modern world, defined by alarm clocks, deadlines and traffic jams, Tuscany lures travelers with the promise of a warmer, gentler way of living.
Here, high art mingles deliciously with warm sunshine and fragrant wine. History seeps through the cobblestones and small occasions are transformed into the greatest of pleasures.
Around six hundred years ago, Tuscany changed the world forever when economic, cultural and political forces collided, sparking the Renaissance. It was a new way of thought in which art and education were highly prized and the search for happiness, a noble goal.
Although the world has changed much since then, Tuscany’s values hold firm and visitors to this region can happily spend days and weeks slowly rediscovering them.
Cortona, Italy: Rustic and Romantic
More info about travel to Tuscan Hill Towns: Cortona has a history that goes back 2,500 years to Etruscan times. While an extremely popular travel destination for Americans today, Cortona's rustic and gritty personality survives.
For more information on the Rick Steves' Europe TV series — including episode descriptions, scripts, participating stations, travel information on destinations and more — visit
ITALY famous towns of Tuscany (hd-video)
There is a lot to see in Tuscany.
I have made a compilation of our visits to following places::
Siena / Monteriggioni / San Gimignano / Panzano / Lucca / Vinci / Pisa / Volterra / Certaldo Alto / Pistoia / Lucignano / Cortona / Montepulciano / Monticchiello / Pienza / Florence.
I found the music for this video on youtube.
I don't know all the players, but the songs are called: 1. Tarantella, 2. Verde luna, 3. Vieni sul mar, 4. Napolitana and 5. Bella notte.
Places to see in ( Cortona - Italy )
Places to see in ( Cortona - Italy )
Cortona is a town and comune in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. Cortona is the main cultural and artistic center of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo. Cortona may be accessed by rail: the closest station is Camucia-Cortona, 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) away. There are direct trains from Florence, Rome, and Foligno (via Perugia).
The foundation of Cortona remains mixed in legends dating to classical times. These were later reworked especially in the late Renaissance period under Cosimo I de' Medici. The 17th-century Guide of Giacomo Lauro, reworked from writings of Annio da Viterbo, states that 108 years after the Great Flood, Noah entered the Valdichiana via the Tiber and Paglia rivers. He preferred this place better than anywhere else in Italy, because it was so fertile, and dwelt there for thirty years. One of Noah's descendants was Crano, his son who came to the hilltop and, liking the high position, the fine countryside and the calm air, built the city of Cortona on it in 273 years after the Great Flood.
The prevailing character of Cortona’s architecture is medieval with steep narrow streets situated on a hillside at an elevation of 600 metres (2,000 ft) that embraces a view of the whole of the Valdichiana. From the Piazza Garibaldi (still referred to by the local population by its older name, Piazza Carbonaia) is a fine prospect of Lake Trasimeno, scene of Hannibal's ambush of the Roman army in 217 BC (Battle of Lake Trasimene). Parts of the Etruscan city wall can still be seen today as the basis of the present wall. The main street, via Nazionale, is the only street in the town with no gradient, and is still usually referred to by locals by its older name of Ruga Piana.
Inside the Palazzo Casali is the Museo dell'Accademia Etrusca, displaying items from Etruscan, Roman, and Egyptian civilizations, as well as art and artefacts from the Medieval and Renaissance eras. The distinguished Etruscan Academy Museum had its foundation in 1727 with the collections and library of Onofrio Baldelli. Among its most famous ancient artefacts is the bronze lampadario or Etruscan hanging lamp, found at Fratta near Cortona in 1840 and then acquired by the Academy for the large sum of 1600 Florentine scudi. Its iconography includes (under the 16 burners) alternating figures of Silenus playing panpipes or double flutes, and of sirens or harpies. Within zones representing waves, dolphins and fiercer sea-creatures is a gorgon-like face with protruding tongue. Between each burner is a modelled horned head of Achelous. It is supposed that the lampadario derived from some important north Etruscan religious shrine of around the second half of the 4th century BC. A later (2nd century BC) inscription shows it was rededicated for votive purposes (tinscvil) by the Musni family at that time.
Alot to see in ( Cortona - Italy ) such as :
Diocesan Museum
Cortona Cathedral
Museo dell'Accademia Etrusca e città di Cortona
Church of San Francesco, Cortona
Santa Margherita, Cortona
Piazza della Repubblica
Fortezza Medicea di Girifalco
Molesini
Porta Bifora
Porta Sant'Agostino
Porta Colonia
Porta Berarda
Porta Montanina
Porta Santa Margherita
Audit Artea
Galleria Etrusca
Cathedral (Duomo) of Cortona (Santa Maria)
Basilica of Santa Margherita
Guzzetti Chapel
Spirito Santo
San Benedetto
San Cristoforo
San Domenico
San Filippo Neri
San Francesco
San Marco
San Niccolò
Santa Chiara
(Former) church of the Gesù
Abbey of Farneta
Franciscan Convent de Le Celle
San Donnino (or, Madonna della Croce)
Pieve di San Michele Arcangelo at Metelliano
Sanctuary of the Madonna del Bagno
San Biagio at Pierle
San Marco Evangelista
( Cortona - Italy ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting the city of Cortona . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Cortona - Italy
Join us for more :
Cortona (Italy) Travel
Take a tour of Italian Town of Cortona in Cortona, Italy - part of the World's Greatest Attractions travel video series by GeoBeats.
One of Italy's most beautiful cities, featured in the book Under the Tuscan Sun, is Cortona.
Cortona contains dozens of amazing sights from the Etruscan, Roman, medieval, renaissance, and modern eras.
Many of the back streets and alleys of the town are classically Italian, with narrow passageways and brick and tile buildings.
Among the towns spectacular sites are many remarkable churches, such as the stone Abbey of Farneta.
The views from Cortona, which is located on a tall hillside, are some of the best in the country.
The beautiful countryside of the town is matched by the lovely and mild weather of Tuscany.
Re-inventing Under the Tuscan Sun: Frances Mayes
How a college professor re-invented her life and career by restoring a house in Italy and chronicling her transition in the bestseller Under the Tuscan Sun. Mike Cerre reports from Cortona, Italy for the Fine Living Channel in 2003.
View more stories at:
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