April 10: Cortona

Today we visited the beautiful Tuscan hilltop town of Cortona.

 

We enjoyed a lovey breakfast with two other couples – newlyweds from Spain, who planned to spend the day cycling in Chianti, and a couple about our age from Holland who were going into Arezzo.  Ourselves, we were going to the hill town of Cortona.  

We stopped first to visit an Etruscan Tomb in Sota.  It was just off a tiny road, and again the walk was as interesting as the tombs themselves.

Back in the car, we drove up to the hill town of Cortona.  We knew that there was a car park with an escalator that took you up to the town above – but it’s a trap!  We found the car park easily enough, but the first escalator was broken down, and there are stairs before and after each escalator.  However, we found ourselves in Garibaldi Square.  

Hard to believe this is only halfway up the hill!

We went first to the Museum.  The Cartona Museum is one of the premier Etruscan museums in the world, and was started in the Eighteenth Century.  Montesquieu and Voltaire were members.  Ian and I were both thrilled with the place, which had rather an eclectic mix of things.

This gigantic porcelain object waas made specifially for the museum.  It has cameos of all of the Medicis on it, and allegorical figrues.  It has no purpose whatsoever.

Many of the ancient artefacts were in perfect shape -- collected in the Eighteenth Century and earlier.

This one is a reproduction. It is a container for breeding and fattening dormice.  The Romans ate dormice like we eat chicken wings!

The Etruscan chandelier is from the 6th Century BC.  They had made a plaster cast so that visitors could get a better view of it.

 

These are ancient Roman deeds engraved into metal.

We stopped for a quick plate of pasta, and then went out and burned it off.  We were determined to get to the Fortresse di Medici at the top, but these were the steepest streets I had ever been on.   Years ago Ian and I had been given directions to find the Circum Vesuviana in Sorrento:  “Supra, supra, supra!”  (up, up, up).  I call Ian “Supraman.” 

Can you believe that cars passed us on this road?

This viacollo, or little street, is so steep it has stairs.  We were already climbing them when I decided to take a picture so I could catch my breath!

This is the path up to the Sanctuary of St. Marguerite and the Fortresse Medici.

The first Church we came to was San Francesco.  This was the second church in the Fransican order, established by a close companion of St. Francis.

These are relics from St. Francis -- a tunic, a pillow, and a New Testament.

 

We made it to the top, and the views were incredible.  Ian loved the lizards who are an incredible bright green.  One of them ran across the road to kiss my foot.

Down we looked over the plains of the bloodiest battle of the Punic Wars.  I am in the middle of a biography of Hannibal, and it was fascinating to see the whole plain, the hills and the lake, laid out like a giant visual aide below us.  We explained the battle to each other.

Up at the top of the hill we came to the Sanctuary of Santa Marguerite.  The Church was beautiful, and had an entire display about the shroud of Turin.  I was intimidated by a monk the firt time we peeked inside, but we came back after the viewing the fortress.

Santa Marguerite is lying in her sepulchre under the alter,

 

 Going downhill was very crunchy on the toes, but we made it down safely, and frove to out hotel for the next three days, the Agristurisma Abbazia Monte Oliveti di Maggiore.  We stayed here seven years ago, and have been dreaming of coming back.  I can't wait to walk the path to the Abbazia in the morning!