Adventures in Italy: Day 9 Chianciano, Cortona

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Italy, Day 9, Wednesday, October 12, Chianchiano and Cortona

Before leaving for Cortona, we visited the Etruscan Museum of Chianciano. The museum was built over an Etruscan archeological site, but I have heard over and over that if you put a shovel in the ground in Tuscany you would very likely come up with an Etruscan relic.

Etruscans are called the ‘mystery people’ because the only thing left to inform us about how they lived are their remains in cemeteries. The Necropolis of Tolle, located near the Castelluccio di Pienza, is one such cemetery.

The Etruscans date back to roughly 700 BC. Those Etruscans who lived on the coast traded with Egyptians and Greeks (the Greeks populated much of the southern part of Italy at that time) to get such treasures as ivory and gold. Their own culture was thus greatly influenced through these interactions as seen in their Goddess of the Rising Sun which reflects the Greek style, but it is the similarity of the Etruscan writing to Greek writing that is a bigger puzzle because the Etruscan translations are different enough that they have yet to be understood.

On display here were many Canopic urns holding ashes of the Etruscan people who died. These objects, along with funerary goods, gave researchers a window into the lives of these ancient people. The Egyptians used Canopic jars during their mummification process showing another example of cultural integration. Weapons for warriors, cups for drinking wine, materials for banquets in the afterlife were common funerary goods for men. Women, who were allowed a burial, unlike women in the Roman culture, usually had jewelry, spinning tools and scented oils in their tombs, and we did see a woman of royalty depicted on her throne.

Etruscan women have been the subject of numerous studies because they were were important in this society which is unusual in the history of women. In fact women were included in all aspects of Etruscan society unlike most other cultures that kept women separate. The slaves in this society who served the wealthy, were both men and women. Their diet consisted of bread, wine, pecorino cheese, pig and dried tuna from fish gotten in trade from people near the ocean. Their most unusual habits of adding honey or grated cheese to their wine most intrigued me. This small museum is well worth a stop to explore the culture and history of this elusive people.



We left the Etruscan museum in Chianciano for an exploration of Cortona, in the Provence of Aretzo. Roberto Bellini filmed the 1997 Italian film Life is Beautiful here. Cortona is also home to Francis Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun (also filmed in Cortona) and Bella Tuscany. According to Ms Mayes, “around Cortona you can find Etruscan artifacts in everyone's garden. Just dig a little.”

On our bus ride to the walled city of Cortona, Ben played the music of Jose Carreras singing Nessun Dorma. The music enhanced the beautiful vistas of iconic Tuscan villages and the peaceful Italian countryside. From the bus window I saw a field of yellow sunflowers dance in the sun while listening to Rossini's Cinderella followed by Handel's Xersies. Today we were truly under the Tuscan sun!!! Because the sun was shining brightly on this cloudless morning I planned to opt out of the next Etruscan museum to climb the hilly, sometimes steep cobbled streets to peek inside the many churches and look for treasures in shop windows. It is easy to get lost here but I found it easy to find my way back.

Originally an Umbrian city, Cortona was conquered, enlarged and walled in by the Etruscans, but Cortona eventually was again conquered and became a Roman colony. In 1411 Cortona was sold to the Medici, and in the late Renaissance period historic legends were reworked under Cosimo I de’ Medici. Thereafter the culture of Florence strongly influenced the architecture of Cortona.

Perched 1800 feet high on the crest of Mont Sant’ Egidio, Cortona enjoys beautiful views of olive groves, vineyards and farms growing produce in the rich soils of the Val di Chiana below. If you look carefully you can also see part of the Apennine mountains, the mountains of Siena, and a view of the blue green waters of Lake Trasimeno. As we survey the valley below we see so many hilltop villages in the distance and fields of recently turned clay from the harvest. There are a few lonely sunflowers facing the sun, vestiges of crops no longer profitable and yet we see a few large crops of sunflowers bending their heavy heads waiting for someone other than the flocks of birds to gather the seeds.

Ben informs us that the price of the land is too expensive to grow table grapes so wine grapes are grown instead (table grapes are grown at home). There are more varietals grown in Italy than anywhere in the world. In fact Italy produces more bottles of wine than any other country. French wines tend to be more expensive but because Italian wines are more plentiful and of similar quality to French wines, they are more popular. Cortona is proud to offer Sirah as it’s wine of choice.

Cortona features many piazzas, palazzos, churches and public buildings of the Romanesque style, some with Gothic features overlaid on top. At the crest of a hill overlooking the valley we chanced upon the 15th century primitive Church of San Domenico just outside the city walls, overlooking the valley below. Inside the church, the prestigious triptych depicting the Coronation of the Virgin by Lorenzo di Niccolo, donated in 1440 by Cosimo and Lorenzo de’ Medici, hangs above the altar. Donna and I were a little taken aback to see Father Pietro Capucci’s remains completely encased in glass at the foot of the altar.

We continued our exploration until the smells and sights of food called us to lunch. Pizza with mozzarella cheese and black truffle cream! Amazing! After lunch we climbed the steep cobbled streets taking pictures until sadly we had to leave. But Ben had another surprise.

Our bus drove up the hill to the outskirts of Cortona where we stopped for a Prosecco (Italian ‘Champagne’) toast to Tuscany before heading south. Ben chose to make our toasts at the foot of the site of the Basilica of Santa Margherita overlooking beautiful views of the Val di Chiana, Monte Amiata, Cetona and Lake Trasimene.

The Basilica honors Saint Margaret, who as a child was unloved by her stepmother and recklessly ran away, becoming a notorious concubine. She naively assumed her lover would marry her after she bore him a son but those were promises he never intended to keep. After the death of her nobleman lover, Margaret was shocked into a life of prayer and penitence. She then dedicated herself to the church. In 1277, after three years of probation, Margaret joined the Third Order of Saint Francis and chose to live her life in poverty in Cortona. Located behind the church is a bell-tower and a monastery of the Franciscan Order. St Margaret was canonized in 1728 and is known as the protector of children and women. Her marble sarcophagus is located inside the church.

Upon our late afternoon return to Chianciano, Ben asked if anyone wanted a quick tour of the ancient town of Chianciano a few miles up the road from our hotel. I jumped at the opportunity having wanted to visit this place since we arrived but was unable to due to either bad weather or lack of time. Far from the madding crowd, Chianciano Vecchia, or Paese, is very different from the modern town of Chianciano Terme or spa town below where we have stayed for the past week. It’s medieval walls are perched high on a hill surveying it’s former dominion.



Chianciano Terme, famous for its thermal springs, drew Etruscans, then Romans to build villas around the Silene Springs. During the Middle Ages, Chianciano’s location near the Via Francigena, attracted weary travelers who then spread word about the now famous healing waters. Today Chianciano Vecchia, the ancient hilltop town, enjoys relative peace in its antiquity, while Chianciano Terme is considered among the finest health resorts in Italy, with its spas, therapeutic waters, beautiful parks and pristine vistas.

We did not have time to explore the insides of buildings but instead wandered through the charming, narrow cobblestone streets, chilled by the dark, ancient stone walls. Brick bell towers pointed to the sunlit sky and cafes were tucked into cozy little corners, a few with beautiful valley views. Occasionally I was greeted with a warm hello from a local smile from a resident increasing my appreciation of this charming town. In short order I left, camera in hand, photographing as fast as I could before passing through the gate of the town by the elegant Porta Rivellini to catch the awaiting bus back to Chianciano Terme and the Hotel Fonti.

On our last night in Chianciano, after our delicious Le Fonti Grand Hotel, dinner we were delighted when Ben used his beautiful baritone voice to serenade us with opera and folk music. After the serenade, to celebrate the end of our first week and work off our really fine dinner and dessert, Donna and I, along with many other GCT 'family' members, danced to the music provided in the spacious hotel dining room. I must add that the wait staff and the Grande Albergo Le Fonti Manager Abdu, made this the warmest and most friendly of all our hotel stays in Italy. We left feeling like family.

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