Cortona

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Comune di Cortona
Municipal coat of arms
Country	Italy
Region	Toscana
Province	Arezzo (AR)
Mayor	Andrea Vignini (since June 2004)

Elevation	494/825 m
Area	342 km²
Population
- Total (as of December 31, 2004)	22,594
- Density	64/km²
Time zone	CET, UTC+1
Coordinates	43°16′N 11°59′E
Gentilic	Cortonesi
Dialing code	0575
Postal code	52044
Frazioni	Camucia, Terontola, Mercatale, Montecchio del Loto, Portole
Patron	Holy Cross
- Day	September 14
Website: www.comune.cortona.ar.it

The church of Santa Maria delle Grazie by Francesco di Giorgio Martini.

André Rieu Concert in Piazza della Repubblica, Cortona.

Cortona[1] is a town and comune in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy.

View of Piazza della Repubblica.

1 History
2 Main sights
3 Culture
4 Transportation
5 Trivia
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] History

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

[edit] Main sights

The prevailing character of Cortona’s architecture is medieval with steep narrow streets situated on a hillside (altitude 600 metres), embracing the whole of the Valdichiana.

Parts of the Etruscan city wall can still be seen today as the basis of the present wall. Inside the Palazzo Pretorio is the Museo dell'Accademia Etrusca that displays items from Etruscan, Roman, and Egyptian civilizations, as well as art and artefacts from the Medieval and Renaissance eras.

The town's chief artistic treasures are two panels by Fra Angelico in the Diocesan Museum, an Annunciation and a Madonna and Child with Saints. A third surviving work by the same artist is the fresco above the entrance to the church of San Domenico, likewise painted during his stay at Cortona in 1436 [2],[3]. The Diocesan Museum houses also a group of work by Giuseppe Maria Crespi, known as Lo Spagnuolo, called Ecstasy of St. Margaret.

Also noteworthy is the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, designed by Francesco di Giorgio Martini.

[edit] Culture

Cortona is famous as the base for some scenes in Roberto Benigni's film Life is Beautiful, in Italian La vita è bella. It is also famous as the setting for the 2004 film Under the Tuscan Sun whose author Frances Mayes maintains a home in Cortona.

In 2003, a live concert by André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra in the Piazza Della Repubblica was filmed and later broadcast in the United States on the PBS television network. Now entering its 4th year, the Tuscan Sun Festival[4], is held each year in August.

The Art Departement of the University of Georgia maintains a study abroad program in Cortona as does the University of Alberta. The prestigious Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa owns and operates a center for academic activities, conferences and university orientation courses at the Palazzone di Cortona[5], about a kilometer to the east of the city center.