ETRUSCANS OF CORTONA

 This past Sunday was the official opening of the Tumulo II at Sodo which is near Cortona.  These are burial grounds of the Etruscans who lived in the area between the 7th and 4th century B.C..  It is believed that they lived where Cortona is now.  Many artifacts proving their existence are found well beneath the city of Cortona.  The Etruscans buried their dead under mounds(melone) away from the city and usually in nearby valleys mostly for health reasons.  The existence of these tombs have been known since 1929.  Only until recently have they been archaeologically dug.  The picture on the right is the entrance to Tomb II.  This has been reconstructed with the original blocks and stones that have been found there.  Because of the artifacts found in the tomb it is believed that this was the tomb of royalty.  Gold, urns, necklaces and the like have been found there and are now in the museum in Cortona and Florence.

Here are more pictures of the tomb. I am not sure if you can enlarge the picture to see it better.  Basically the sign tells us the this stairway leads to a terrace that was most likely a shrine where ceremonies were performed.  If you have more interest in this fascinating site from over 2000 years ago go to this website:  www.cortonaweb.net.  Arrow all the way to the bottom of the page and under museums click on archaeological park.  There is a lot of information there.  Or better yet, get on a plane, fly here to IL MOLINO  and go see it in person.  You won't be sorry.

Here is a better picture of the entrance to Tomb II.  You can see the detail of the staircase in this picture.  Remember this was originally constructed over 2000 years ago.  A roof was built over it to protect it from the elements.  As you can see it is still under re-construction.  You can't walk down to the stairs, but you can get close enough to get some pictures.  If you walk around the other side you will find more tombs .  This is were the "common people" were entombed. You can walk into those tombs. I have some pictures below taken inside the tomb.

Here is an aerial view of the project.  It was a massive undertaking.  A river that at one time was navigable with small boats  had to be diverted.  The bell shaped area at the top of the picture is the diverted river.  You can see the mound (meloni) in the middle that contains the tombs. 

Brenda walking into Tomb I.  Not bad for a person who is claustrophobic

Inside one of the tombs

Some of the crowd at the dedication ceremony

 

 

Stay tuned for more.  I really hope some of you can make it here to Tuscany.  It is a beautiful place, the people are great, and the food is the best I have ever tasted, not to mention the rich history of the area. If you come you must stay at IL MOLINO DI BORDONE if you really want the flavor of of a true Italian experience.  It is in the country but so close to most things you would want to see.

FORTRESS OF GIRIFALCO (or MEDICI)

This is an outside picture of the Fortress of Girifalco.  It is located on the outside of the walled city of Cortona at perhaps the highest point in the area.  Records show that the Fort was in existence around the year 1258 when it was sold to Arezzo.  Arezzo is the present province in which Cortona is located.  The fortress dominates the hill just a short distance from Cortona.  You may remember in a previous blog I pointed out the fortress in a picture taken several miles away.  To me it is amazing how they could have built such a structure with only a small path for access.  Today you could drive up there on a dirt road behind the Church of St. Margaret (the patron saint of Cortona).  The views, as you will see in this blog, are spectacular. The fortress has been through many renovations since the 1200's.  It was opened to the public in 1948 and is the subject of renovation since 1959.

This is just another view of the front of the fortress. Those stairs are extremely difficult to climb.  They lead to a massive wood door at the entrance. It is amazing as to how they lifted the door into place on its hinges.  Its weight has to be in the tons.  Because the fortress is still under renovation there is very little information there to tell you, for example, the weight of the door.  All I know, is that even with today's weaponry it would be difficult to blast away the door to gain entrance.  Inside, the fort is divided into a central core, a tower which is spread over four floors and is surrounded by four bastions and a vast courtyard.  As I mentioned before it is still in need of a tremendous amount of restoration that, I am sure, will cost millions and millions of euros.  It was still interesting to take a tour through the complex.  And, it only cost two euros.  That's about $2.80 in dollars.

Here is the door.  Notice the small door within the larger door at the bottom left.  My guess is that they used this door to let people in as they probably did not want to expose much of the fort to people who might be invaders. That small door is probably around five feet high and maybe four feet wide.  When we went in the large door was open.  I guess they trusted us even though we are "Amercanio's" and might be looking to create a massive tourist attraction and collect a large amounts of money to take a tour.  Maybe even turn the inside into a mini Disney World with gallows, torture chambers, and guillotines. Every hour we would even have a mock invasion.  Ok, just kidding.  I am sure we would preserve it as a national treasure.  The sign outside says that in 1540 Cosmio I dei Medici commissioned a restoration that began in 1556.  He commissioned Gadrio Serdelloni, grandson of Pope Pio(Pius) IV, yep grandson of a Pope, and others to do the work.  I did some research on Pope Pius IV and found that he was a Medici from Milan.  The Medici's of Florence who had all the power and money did not recognize the Medici's of Milan as part of their family until  Pope Pius IV was appointed pope.  Once he was appointed as a compromise candidate the Medic's of Milan now became part of the influential Medici's of Florence. Back then you did not even have to be a priest to get appointed Pope, you just had to have a lot of money and influence.  I guess politics played an important role even back then.

Here you can see part of a walkway.  The walkway goes from the main building and then back into the building on the other side. It is U shaped and has a great view of the center courtyard and a 360 degree view of the surrounding area.  The steeple you see in the background is that of St. Margaret of Cortona.  I am not sure what the courtyard was used for, but my guess is that it was for large events.  According to what I read, I don't think it was used to corral the enemy.  They did all their slaughtering outside of the walls. Hey, the Italians were even clean freaks back then.  Why mess up the inside.

View from the walkway.  The city in the background is Camucia.

Another view from the walkway.  The lake in the background is Logo Trasimeno. A site near there is where Hannibal defeated the Romans.

So here are the windows looking from the inside of the fortress.  You can see how thick the walls are and also all the stone used to build the fortress.  Again, it is just amazing how it was built in the 1200's with no power equipment and up on a high hill.  It would be a feat to build it today even with all our modern equipment.  Today the fortress is used as a cultural center.  The plan is to create a center of excellence for live shows, art projects and educational programs.  When we were there an art show was going on in many of the rooms of the fortress.

Partial view of the center court

Another view of the center court from the walkway.  To get an idea of the vastness of the fort, you can barely see Brenda standing in the center of that archway in the background.

I found these printing presses in one of the rooms of the fortress.  They were in an area not open to tourists, but I managed to get a picture.  They are probably going to use them somewhere for display purposes.  Behind the press are rows and rows of typeset.  I am not sure how old these presses are, but apparently they were used sometime during the fortress's history.

I found this stone at the highest point outside the fortress.  I really do not know what it says, but it looks to be written in early Roman or maybe even some Etruscan form of writing.  There were no signs there to explain and no one to ask.  It might even be a grave, but I am not sure.  I am still researching.

More pictures of the outside

A view of St. Margaret's Church from the fortress.

Stay tuned for more.  I have some great pictures of Amy and Michelle's visit and more interesting stuff.