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Bella Cortona!
Many of you have seen the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" starring Diane Lane, the story of a love-lorn woman who goes to Tuscany on holiday, buys a wreck of a house and then has adventures getting the property renovated.
What you may not know is that we now represent the owners of the property used to film the movie, now an exquisite property sleeping 18 in a main villa and an adjoining farmhouse!
Cortona is also what most people think of when it comes to a hillside Tuscan town: from its strategic promontory it overlooks gentle rolling green hills, vineyards dotting the landscapes, sunflowers craning their necks towards the sun each day and ancient towns and villages secure in their valleys between the powerhouse cities of Florence and Siena.
Minutes from the Umbrian border, the town of Cortona is filled with the spirit of its Etruscan heritage and is designated a citta d'arte ("city of art"), hosting a variety of cultural events and festivals through the year including the famous Tuscan Sun Festival in late summer.
Cortona is an ancient Etruscan town, with history dating back through the ages, including the legend that the great Greek Ulysses died in the area after his many conquests. Today, it is a manageable medieval city with narrow lanes and cute shops. Parking may be difficult in the summer as it is a magnet for tourists, but coming in the off season has many pleasures, including a great Saturday market and some very good restaurants. The winding Via Nazionale in Cortona is lined with shops specializing in antiques, ceramics and wood crafts.
Aside from touring pastimes, you are also in the heart of great food, including what many believe to be some of the best wine and olive oil in the world!
Although it is about a 1.5 hour drive to Florence, Siena or Chianti from Cortona, it still has great strategic advantage for visiting many of the cities and towns in Umbria and eastern Tuscany like Arezzo, Chiusi, Cetona, Montepulciano and Montalcino (Tuscany) and Assisi, Perugia, and Orvieto (Umbria). It is also only about 10 miles from beautiful Lake Trasimeno and some of its lovely lakeside villages. Lake Trasimeno's historical significance was that it was the scene of Hannibal's ambush of the Roman army in 217 BC.
The Cortona area is ideal for a family reunion, friends traveling together or a couple seeking to immerse themselves in the region.
Read more below and visit the links to the right to discover more about Cortona. Enjoy.
Kevin Abell
President, A Season Away
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