Agriturismo Il Frantoio (Horseback Riding)

This church was built in the 2nd half of the 16th cent on plans of Cristofanello in Late Renaissance style. It was finished in the 17th cent and is located in a splendid position at the base of S.Egidio Mount. It has a painting of the Nativity of Mary by Allori.

Built above the old church of Santa Maria, erected in the 10 and 11th centuries, the front of which was altered by Nicolo Pisano around 1260. Traces of the first building can still be found on the front of the cathedral. The new building dates from the 15th cent. Although the cathedral has been rebuilt many times it has not lost the harmony of the original building.

The Diocesan Museum is in the original Church and Oratory of Gesù. The Church was built by the Lay Company of Buon Gesù between 1498 and 1505 and was made up of an oratory on the lower floor and a church on the upper floor. The church had a single nave with three altars with three masterpieces by Luca Signorelli. Among the most important exhibits are: an Annunciation by Fra Angelico, Lamentation over the dead Christ by Luca Signorelli, a Shaped Cross by Pietro Lorenzetti and the Passerini Tapestry, vestments made between the beginning of the 16th century and 1515, commissioned by Cardinal Silvio Passerini to be worn by Pope Leo X de’ Medici during his visit in Cortona.

Among the exhibits are a slate slab of Polymnia, an Etruscan lamp of the 5th cent BC, a Bronze votive hand, a statue of the two-headed god Janus, a tryptich of Our Lady and Saints by ‘’Bicci di Lorenzo’’ (16th century), an Egyptian wooden boat of the dead from the 12th dynasty (2000 to 1788 BC).

Fransiscan monastery on the slopes of Mount S.Egidio. The cell which was inhabited ba Saint Francis has been preserved.

Originally the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo was built in the 13th century. Its tower was destroyed later. The interior of the palace was renovated by Cardinal Silvio Passerini, who owned the palace from 1514 onwards. It appears to be as a vacation rental location.