Page 338 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Italy

336  CENTR AL IT AL Y

Comunale on u Chiusi
Piazza della Siena. * 10,000. V @ n Via
Repubblica. Porsenna 79 (0578 22 76 67). ( Tue.
The town’s early
history is traced Chiusi is now a largely modern
in the Museo town, but in the past it was one
dell’Accademia of the most powerful cities in the
Etrusca, which Etruscan league, reaching the
contains Etruscan height of its influence in the 7th
artifacts and a and 6th centuries BC (see p48–9).
wide variety of Numerous Etruscan tombs lie
Egyptian and dotted in the surrounding
Roman remains. countryside, the source of the
The small Museo exhibits in the town’s Museo
Diocesano Archeologico Nazionale.
features several Founded in 1871, the museum
fine paintings, is packed with cremation urns,
in particular a vases decorated with black
Piero’s The Resurrection (1463) in Sansepolcro Crucifixion by the figures and Bucchero ware,
Renaissance artist burnished to resemble bronze.
t Sansepolcro Pietro Lorenzetti, a Deposition The Romanesque Duomo in
(1502) by Luca Signorelli, Piazza del Duomo incorporates
Arezzo. * 16,000. @ n Via
Matteotti 8 (0575 74 05 36). and a sublime Annunciation recycled Roman pillars and
( Tue, Sat. (c.1434) by Fra Angelico. capitals. The wall decorations in
Signorelli, born in Cortona, the nave, resembling frescoes,
Sansepolcro is the birthplace is buried in the church of were painted by Arturo
of Piero della Francesca San Francesco (built in Viligiardi in 1887. There is a
(1410–92). The town’s Museo 1245), which contains an Roman mosaic underneath the
Civico contains two of his Annunciation painted in high altar. Visits can be made
masterpieces: The Resurrection Baroque style by to several Etruscan
(1463) and the Madonna della Pietro da Cortona, tombs under the
Misericordia (1462). It also has another native town from the
a 15th-century Crucifixion by artist. The Museo della
Luca Signorelli. In the church of Madonna del Cattedrale, a
San Lorenzo on Via Santa Croce Calcinaio (1485), museum in the
there is a Deposition in the a gem of Renais- cloister of the
Mannerist style by Rosso sance archi tecture, Duomo that has
Fiorentino (1494–1541). is located on the The 13th-century Palazzo displays of Roman,
Another renowned painting southern outskirts Comunale in Cortona Lom bardic and
by Piero della Francesca, the of town. medieval sculpture.
Madonna del Parto (1460),
can be seen at Via Reglia 1 in E Museo dell’Accademia Etrusca E Museo Archeologico Nazionale
Monterchi, 13 km (8 miles) Palazzo Casali, Piazza Signorelli 9. Via Porsenna 93. Tel 0578 201 77. Open
southwest of Sansepolcro. Tel 0575 63 72 35. Open daily (except 9am–8pm daily (last adm 7:30pm; to
Mon in winter). & 2pm Sun & public hols). & 8
E Museo Civico E Museo Diocesano E Museo della Cattedrale
Via Aggiunti 65. Tel 0575 73 22 18. Piazza del Duomo 1. Tel 0575 628 30. P. del Duomo. Tel 0578 22 64 90. Open
Open daily. Closed public hols. & 8 Open daily (Tue–Sun in winter). & daily (Jan–Mar: Tue, Thu, Sat, Sun). &
y Cortona
Arezzo. * 23,000. V @ n Piazza
Signorelli 9 (0575 63 72 23). ( Sat.
Cortona was founded by the
Etruscans and apart from being
one of the oldest hill-towns in
Tuscany, it is also one of the
most scenic. A major power in
the Middle Ages, it was able to
hold its own against Siena and
Arezzo. Today it is a charming
maze of old streets and medieval
buildings, like the Palazzo Etruscan frieze in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Chiusi
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp569–73 and pp590–96

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