The church of San Benedetto, is one of the most peculiar and not well known churches in Cortona. It is a “hidden jewel” of Cortona, so you can’t miss this church during your visit to Cortona. This church has got a unique shape, because it has got an elliptical plan. San Benedetto is set in a very scenic context. It has got a round façade without plaster, with exposed bricks, and from the terrace in front of the church, you could have a beautiful and stunning view on the roofs of Cortona. The building has got three big windows without the frame, and one window located over the main entrance. When you enter inside the church, you will be stunned by the richness of decorations: stucco and marble make the interior of the church of San Benedetto very evocative. The statue of “The Flogged Christ” is very interesting and amazing, it was located on the main altar, that dates back to the seventeenth century. This statute, with other statues placed in other churches in Cortona, is carried during the Easter procession of the Good Friday.

The church of San Domenico is one of the churches you can’t miss in Cortona. This church was once part of the Domincan convent of Cortona, one of the most ancient in the area, already documented in 1258. However, the early church, that was built before the actual one, dates back to 1264. The church visible nowadays was built at the end of fourteenth century, and it was consecrated in 1517 by the bishop of Cortona. The external aspect of the church is late gothic, even if some elements belong to the Renaissance period. The interior of the church is full of works of art, and it has got a central aisle, and it is covered by a wood truss ceiling. The presbytery is raised by five little steps and it has got three rectangular apse chapels; this is a characteristic feature of the Gothic church of the mendicant orders. On the greater apse chapel there is a stunning polyptych painted by Lorenzo di Nicolò in the fifteenth century and it represents the Coronation of the Virgin Mary with some Angels and Saints. The polyptych wasn’t meant for Cortona, but it was given in 1440 by Cosimo il Vecchio, to repair the non-execution by Beato Angelico of an altarpiece for the major altar. On the left apse chapel there is also a piece of art of the famous painter from Cortona Luca Signorelli.

The “Via Crucis” (Way of the Cross) is a devotional path made by Gino Severini, the famous artist from Cortona. It is a devotional route that develops along Via Santa Margherita. This path starts from Porta Berarda (the door from which Santa Margherita, the patron saint of Cortona came into the city in 1272). The Via Crucis was commissioned to Gino Severini by the bishop of Cortona, who wanted to thank Santa Margherita saving the city from the wartime destructions. He started working at the Via Crucis making drawing on the cardboards, that later he would have used as base for the mosaics of the fourteen stations. The cardboards today are kept in the Diocesan Museum. He worked on the mosaic in Rome in 1944. In 1961 these stations were completed with the big mosaic on the façade of the church of San Marco. On the mosaic there is the picture of Saint Mark the Evangelist, represented with the lion that is his biblical symbol. The stations of the Via Crucis were preceded by the fifteenth station, dedicated to Santa Margherita who prayed in front of the Cross. Severini said that he liked to represent Margherita, as a truly Saint from Cortona and of people from Cortona. In fact, on the mosaic of the Saint there is the silhouette of the city, with the roofs of the houses, the doors, the churches, the towers, the domes, the sanctuary nestled on the slope of the hill and the fortress of Girifalco. The scenes of the Via Crucis are simple, and they focus on the main characters. The style of the paintings is interpreted cubism. On the mosaics there are some golden leaves that create a surprising effect of bright punctuation. The stations follow along all the avenue, with the mosaics put under the aedicula with sloping roof and they are protected by a glass.
Frances Mayes, the famous American writer, talks about the Via Crucis, on her famous book “Under the Tuscan Sun”.
The access to the Via Crucis is free, and if you come to Cortona, you definitely have to visit this work of art, and follow all the path, up to the top of the hill.

The Cathedral of Cortona is dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, and it rises on the heart of Cortona. The cathedral, or as all people from Cortona call it “Duomo”, was built on the rest of a first parish church already documented in 1086, and it had got a Romanesque style. The Parish church rose on the rests of a pagan temple that probably dates back to fifth and sixth century. In 1262, almost 200 year later from the first building, the church was restored. The church that you can see  today was designed in the second half of fifteenth century, and it was built incorporating the early church, from which you could find the traces in the stones of the façade. The style passed from the Romanesque style, that you can see in the sobriety and asymmetry of the façade, to the Renaissance Romanesque with the interior with three aisles with light capital columns and arches to hold the vault. The Cathedral is the main church of Cortona, one of the most important churches in town, and here the majority of religious function of the city take place.