Cortona

We will stop over night in Cortona on our way back to Florence from Rome. Our travel agent highly recommended this stop and I have always loved the "Under the Tuscan Sun" movie which is the town the movie is about and filmed in.


Cortona is a town and comune in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the setting for the film Under the Tuscan Sun, starring Diane Lane, based on the book by Frances Mayes.


Cortona was founded by the Etruscans, who called it Curtun in their language. The city was also important during Roman times.

The Castle of Pierle, near Lake Trasimeno to the south of Cortona, already existed in the 10th century. It was the property of the marquises of Saint Mount Maria Tiberina. In 1428 there is a contract of sale by the Republic of Florence and payment of 1200 gold florins when it became free of Cortona. However that wasn't enough to save the Rocca, and it was voluntarily destroyed by the Grand Duke so that outlaws would not take refuge there.