Attractions

Renaissance Art & Etruscan Remains

Cortona has an embarrassment of art riches for a town of its size. When you've finished with the main sights below, you might want to visit other attractions like San Domenico, near Piazza Garibaldi (the first square in town you come to by car or bus), with its faded Fra' Angelico under glass above the door and Luca Signorelli's Madonna and Saints (1515) to the left of the altar. The 15th-century altarpiece by Lorenzo di Niccolò Gerini is a cross between a Gothic composition and a classic early Renaissance style, plus -- unlike many large altarpieces across Italy that have been broken up over the ages -- it's completely intact, pinnacles, predella, and all. There's a pleasant public park behind the church.

On Piazza San Francesco, San Francesco, the second Franciscan church ever built and the burial place of the saint's main disciple, Brother Elias, has been undergoing extensive renovations for quite some time, and Pietro da Cortona's last work, an Annunciation in the third chapel, has been removed for safekeeping. Luca Signorelli also may be buried in the church's crypt.

San Niccolò, high in town off Via Berrettini, is a small 15th-century church with a quiet cypress-framed gravel courtyard. Inside, you'll find a detached Madonna and Saints fresco (left wall) and a two-sided altarpiece, both by Luca Signorelli. To get into the church, ring for the custodian around to the left; once inside, point to the Deposition of Christ altarpiece and ask, "Posso vedere l'altro lato?" (Poh-so veh-dair-ay lahl-trow lah-toe?) so you can see the Madonna and Child on the flip side.

Most of the Etruscan city is hidden in basements, but you can see part of the original 4th-century-B.C. walls at the base of Porta Colonia's outer side. From here, take the path outside the walls down to the centrally planned 16th-century church of Santa Maria Nuova, in which Giorgio Vasari and Christofanello both had a hand. (Works by Alessandro Allori and Empoli are inside.)

Sights Outside the Walls

Just below the city walls, on the hillside carpeted with olive trees, sits Cortona's tribute to High Renaissance architecture: Santa Maria delle Grazie al Calcinaio. It was built between 1485 and 1513 and is the masterpiece (and only definitely attributable work) of Francesco di Giorgio Martini. He designed it on a Latin cross plan to mark the spot where a worker in a limekiln (calcinaio) saw a miraculous image of the Virgin appear on the rock wall. The harmonious Brunelleschian interior has a rose window in stained glass by the French master of that art, Guillaume de Marcillat, as well as a late-16th-century Madonna and Saints by Florentine artist Alessandro Allori in the right transept.

Continuing down the hill, you'll come upon a turnoff to the right for the Ipogeo or Tomba di Pitagora, a 3rd- or 2nd-century-B.C. Etruscan tomb. It's on a circular plan with a vaulted roof that a 19th-century "restoration" left bare of its probable earth covering (but surrounded with solemn cypresses). The tomb's name comes from someone who didn't do his homework and confused Cortona with Crotone, Calabria, the home of Greek mathematician Pythagoras. Giorgio Vasari confused matters further in the 16th century when he decided to rename it the Tomb of Archimedes, for no apparent reason. The buzzer for the custodian is hidden behind the ivy at the gate.

For more Etruscan heritage, continue down to the SS71 crossroads and the hamlet known as Il Sodo. To the left of the stream, a road leads to a group of houses around the Ipogeo Melone I del Sodo ("First Big Melon"); to get inside, book an appointment ahead of time at tel. 0575-630-415 or 0575-612-778. The passage and chambers inside this 6th-century-B.C. Etruscan tomb are in excellent condition, due in no small part to the fact that the bits that were missing were replaced by brick guesswork after it was discovered in 1909. The walls are made of tufa from Orvieto (how the rock got all the way here is anybody's guess), and there's an Etruscan inscription (read right to left) above a small passage between two of the burial chambers. The inscription explains this side door: The chambers were the final resting places of a husband and wife; the passage was there in case they felt like visiting each other during eternity.

To the right of the stream, a set of tire ruts leads past a ceramics plant to the Melone II il Sodo ("Second Big Melon"), an Etruscan tumulus tomb dating back at least to the late 7th century B.C. Long in the shadow of its partner across the way, the tomb catapulted to the fore of Etruscan archaeological interest after the chance discovery in the early 1990s of a 6th-century-B.C. altar sticking out of one side of the circular tumulus. The feature, previously unknown on any Etruscan tomb, led to a flurry of interpretations (one surely significant fact is that the altar is perfectly aligned with Cortona). An ongoing dig has unearthed more bits from the altar, which is reached by a monumental stairway flanked by two sphinxes biting the heads off warriors who are simultaneously stabbing the animals in the side, thought to represent the battle between life and death. The digs have also revealed a second passage tomb into the hillside and at least 17 more tombs in the ground around the tumulus. Some of these predate the altar, but most are from the Hellenistic and Roman eras, all the way to the 1st century A.D. (In fact, many were lined with stones pirated from the altar, which implies that the altar must've lost some of its religious importance by the 2nd c. B.C.) To visit this dig-in-progress, you need to reserve ahead at tel. 0575-637-235.