This is my first post in a very, very long time. My computer's hard drive failed shortly after my last post about Patmos, so I've had to wait until I arrived back at home. So, obviously, I made it back safely and am ready to start posting more pictures. I lost about 60% of my pictures on the crashed hard drive, but there were still some that I had trasferred to flash drives. With the remaining pictures, I'll start again in chronological order, first with Cortona which we visited in mid-September.
Cortona is a small town now, but it was a very important city in antiquity. Most likely, it was first built by the Etruscans nearly three thousand years ago, and became one of their most important cities. In the picture below, the rocks at the very bottom of the wall (the largest stones) come from the original wall that protected the city during Etruscan times! The city also has some surprising myths surrounding it. The Catholic Church claimed that Noah spent many years in this area after the flood and one of his grandchildren was the founder of Cortona. The pagans claimed that Cortona was the home of Dardanus, who fled Cortona and founded Troy in Asia minor, so Rome also would owe her existence to Cortona (since Rome was founded they claim, by refugees from Troy). Also, Aristotle claimed that Ulysses settled and died near Cortona after returning from the Trojan War. Whatever her early history, let it just be said that Cortona is very, very old!
Cortona is a small town now, but it was a very important city in antiquity. Most likely, it was first built by the Etruscans nearly three thousand years ago, and became one of their most important cities. In the picture below, the rocks at the very bottom of the wall (the largest stones) come from the original wall that protected the city during Etruscan times! The city also has some surprising myths surrounding it. The Catholic Church claimed that Noah spent many years in this area after the flood and one of his grandchildren was the founder of Cortona. The pagans claimed that Cortona was the home of Dardanus, who fled Cortona and founded Troy in Asia minor, so Rome also would owe her existence to Cortona (since Rome was founded they claim, by refugees from Troy). Also, Aristotle claimed that Ulysses settled and died near Cortona after returning from the Trojan War. Whatever her early history, let it just be said that Cortona is very, very old!
The town hall in the town square of Cortona.
The Duomo of Cortona, very near the summit of Cortona. I think my two friends Michael and Tim were about ready to pass out from the steepness of the hike to the top (about 2,000 ft)!
Inside the Duomo.
The next two photos are of the Medici fortress on the summit of Cortona. The fortress was completed in 1561 and built by Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici.
Looking over the roof of the Duomo and into the Tuscan valley at sunset.
A view on top of Cortona facing Lake Trasimeno which you can see in the upper left of the picture. The lake was the scene of a famous battle in 217 B.C. when Hannibal ambushed the Roman army under command of Gaius Flaminius, completely destroying his army. It was the second of Hannibal's three major victories on the Italian peninsula.
A very steep street through Cortona. I wonder what they do when it snows or gets icy? If you took one step on that and slipped, you'd probably slide all the way down to the town square, about 500 meters further down!
Supposedly the tunic of St. Francis of Assisi.
1 comment:
treacherous, yes.
but imagine sledding!
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