Anywhere Italy
Stemma di Cortona

Tuscany · Arezzo

Cortona

An Etruscan lucumonia, with two kilometers of walls older than Rome.

Known for

  • ETRUSCAN LUCUMONIA

    One of the twelve cities of the Etruscan League, with two kilometers of fourth-century BC walls still standing.

  • TABULA CORTONENSIS

    Second-century BC bronze plaque in the MAEC, the longest known inscription in the Etruscan language.

  • UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN

    Frances Mayes's 1996 memoir of buying a villa outside town that turned Cortona into one of the most visited hill towns in Tuscany.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J
  • F
  • M
  • A
  • M
  • J
  • J
  • A
  • S
  • O
  • N
  • D
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

The festa: Margherita da Cortona, 22 February

Why come

Cortona stands on the southern flank of the Val di Chiana, looking across to Lake Trasimeno: a position that put it in sight of both the plain it governed and the water beyond it. The Etruscan name Curtun survives fixed in stone, and the city that carried it was built in tiers up the hillside, walls and fortress at the crown, church and convent lower down at the edges of the slope, houses and squares filling the ground between. The bishop granted Francis of Assisi a place for retreat in 1211, and what resulted was built into a narrow valley below the town rather than within its walls, a retreat kept apart from the civic center even as it stayed within reach.

Santa Margherita, the city's patron, is held on the ridge above the streets she once walked. The painters Luca Signorelli and Pietro da Cortona were born inside the walls that still define the town's shape. Frances Mayes published her memoir in 1996, and the town has not been quiet since. What emerges is a hill town whose Etruscan skeleton, medieval faith, and modern fame sit stacked on the same slope, each layer visible without erasing the one beneath it.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Cortona’s letter yet.

One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

Cortona — photo 1
Cortona — photo 2

What to see

  • Mura etrusche

    The walls still ring the city entire, the foundation under every later layer of building, Roman and medieval alike.

  • MAEC

    Museum of the Etruscan Academy in Palazzo Casali, holding the bronze plaque and the lampadario di Cortona.

  • Museo Diocesano

    Collection in the former Chiesa del Gesù with Beato Angelico's Annunciation of 1430 and works by Luca Signorelli.

  • Basilica di Santa Margherita

    The basilica caps the ridge above the town, holding the body of the saint who lived and died here.

  • Eremo Le Celle

    The convent sits three kilometers below the town, its cells built into both sides of a narrow valley, still inhabited by friars.

  • Fortezza del Girifalco

    Medicean fortress at the top of the hill, built on Etruscan foundations, used for exhibitions and views over the Val di Chiana.

  • Piazza della Repubblica

    Civic square at the city's center, dominated by the Palazzo Comunale and its open stone stairs.

The slow-trip planner

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We’ve tried

What we got up to

Restaurants, walks, swims — the things we actually did in and around Cortona, each with the piece we wrote about it.

We recommend

Where to eat and stay

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

  • Osteria del TeatroRistorante

    A Slow Food snail for Osteria del Teatro, along with a Gambero Rosso listing and a spot in the Michelin Guide.

  • Il FalconiereRistorante

    Il Falconiere has one Michelin star and two Gambero Rosso forks (83/100).

  • Al ToccoRistorante

    Al Tocco carries a Gambero Rosso listing.

  • Enoteca MeucciRistorante

    Enoteca Meucci carries a spot in the Michelin Guide.

  • La BucacciaRistorante

    La Bucaccia holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

  • Locanda del MolinoRistorante

    Locanda del Molino carries a spot in the Michelin Guide.

  • Taverna Pane e VinoWine Bar

    Taverna Pane e Vino holds two Gambero Rosso bottles.

  • Monastero di CortonaHotel

    One Michelin Key, at Monastero di Cortona.

  • Relais Il FalconiereHotel

    Relais Il Falconiere carries a place in the Michelin hotel guide.

  • Relais La Corte Dei PapiHotel

    Relais La Corte Dei Papi holds a place in the Michelin hotel guide.

Through the year

What happens here

Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.

Living here

  • Population 21,133
  • Off the beaten pathi
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest airport Ancona / Pescara, 2 h 17 min drive
  • Regional capital Firenze, 1 h 25 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 494 m
  • Population: 21,133
  • Surface area: 342.97 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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