CORTONA | Local History

The Etruscan age: the mystery Etruscan population 

Cortona finds its roots directly to the Etruscan age. But why Etruscans chose precisely this place to settle their city? Because Cortona is located on a strategic position, both for defending against enemies, and for its small distances from the main centres of the cities nearby. Among the 8th and 7th century B.C., Cortona became an important Etruscan Lucumonia. A so called Lucumonia is the area that is the jurisdiction of the Lucumone, who was the administrator of the Lucumonia. Nowadays, this term Lucumone is the name with which people from Cortona called the president of the Etruscan Academy, that owns the MAEC (Museum of the Etruscan Academy of Cortona). In 310 B.C. lots of Etruscans cities were conquered by Romans, and Cortona made a formal alliance with Rome. This alliance wouldn’t lasted for a long time, and for that reason the famous battle of Trasimeno was fought. Regarding the Etruscan period, we could find many testimonies inside the city centre of Cortona, and also in the area nearby, as the famous Tabula Cortonensis, the tombs of the archaeological area of Sodo, and many traces inside the city centre. One example, that catch first your eyes when you come to Cortona, is the majestic walls that surrounds all the city; you will be amazed by the impressiveness of the big stones that compose the walls.