Cortona in Context: The History and Architecture of an Italian Hill Town to the 17th Century

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Summary: a book to treasure and carry to Tuscany
Review: Cortona is an ancient hilltown whose winding stone streets mount up and up until you can see out over the valley. A world apart, this medieval town enclosed by its original walls has changed little in several centuries: a church built by St. Francis's good friend Brother Elias still stands with Francis's own tunic preserved under glass and you can wander through the very piazzas walked by great men from long ago. The present day charm of Cortona which is intimate enough to see in a day has been praised by the writer Frances Mayes who lives within walking distance outside the walls, but historian Philancy Holder tells us how it got that way in a tour of the very streets and structures: the gates, the convents, the churches and their saints, the rows of medieval houses and crests of long gone, noble Italian families embedded in a civic wall. Illustrated with many evocative pictures from the stone arching city gates to the palazzos, it is a book to carry around with you as you walk back in history. A must have for anyone who wants to understand Tuscany history, and how one intimate town grew over the centuries.