Cetona is one of 184 Italian small towns awarded with the "Bandiera Arancione" (Orange Flag) for excellency in tourism, hospitality and the environment. Cetona is also one of the "Borghi più belli d'Italia" (Most beautiful villages in Italy) located in the province of Siena, Tuscany. The village’s name finds its origins in the one of an ancient Early Christian pieve - a medieval rural church with a baptistery - mentioned in some historical records: in a text dating back to 1275, such a church is called plebs Sancti Johannis de Scetona.
Historical Notes
In 7th and 6th century B.C., some Etruscan villages were built on Chiusi and Sarteano hills. The Cetona settlement is proved by several documents to be nearby Camposervoli. In 1207, the castle of Cetona was mentioned for the first time. In 1260, the village was dominated by the Republic of Orvieto after a long power struggle with Siena. In 1418, Cetona was sold by the mercenary Braccio di Montone (Lord of Perugia) to the Republic of Siena.
In 1556, Cetona citizens, suffering wars and pestilences for years, surrendered without fighting to the empire army in Tuscany: in this way, the village went under the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. In 1558-69, the Grand Duke Cosimo 1st and Vitelli family obtained in fief Cetona and a golden age began for the village. Afterwards, the village returned to be part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until the “Resurgence” or Italian unification.
Main Sights & Landscape
Thanks to its beautiful landscape - that seems to be a big painting in nature – and its outstanding stone architecture, Cetona in one of the most beautiful villages in Italy. In the surrounding areas, visitors will marvel at its country landscape made up of olive groves and green cypresses.
The village is surrounded by its ancient walls, which in the past had three circuits and today maintain intact the Rivellino tower, dating back to 16th century. Its paved streets called “coste” enter the ancient accumulation of houses dominating the square dating back to the Renaissance.
Piazza Garibaldi is a remarkable oval-shaped square in the village; it was built in 16th century by Gian Luigi Vitelli also known as Chiappino.
The square is surrounded by buildings dating to the 17th and 18th century: the ancient Palazzo Vitelli, unrecognizable from the outside, the former 16th-century church of the Santissima Annunziata (today the City Hall exhibition area) and the Church of San Michele Arcangelo. The arcade on the square was also designed by Vitelli and was once used as a covered market.
Other noteworthy buildings are the Palazzo di Giustizia (today a Carabinieri Barrack, the national gendarmerie of Italy), the Sgarroni Palace (18th century) and Minutelli Palace, today hosting the City Hall and the City Museum.
In the lovely square called Piazzetta della Collegiata, visitors will find the most beautiful church in the village: Santissima Trinità Church, built between 12th and 13th century and preserving still today some frescoes dating to late 15th century, among which we find the Madonna Assunta by Pinturicchio’s school.
Other main sights in Cetona are the S. Francesco Cloister and the hermitage of Santa Maria a Belverde, tucked away among the unspoilt vegetation and woods of centuries-old ilexes and cypresses, under a cliff of travertine.
Excellent local products of Cetona are its oil and wine; as for its local dish we find the typical “pici”, a kind of big, handmade spaghetti dressed with aglione, a tomato sauce with much garlic and chilli pepper or a sauce of minced meat, tomato and onion.