Montepulciano is about 60 km southeast of Siena. The town is built on the crest of a hill 605 metres above sea level. The town is Etruscan in origin, but became an independent province in the fourteenth century.
The cultural town of Cortona is packed with Renaissance architecture. Famous architects who have left their mark on this town include Francesco di Giorgio Martini and Giovanni Battista Infregliati (also called Cristofanello) and from the 15th century, Angelo and Francesco di Pietro and later Urbano da Cortona and Ciuccio di Nuccio as well as the architect Domenico Bernabei (also called Boccadoro).
The main city in Umbria is the ancient and royal city of Perugia. The city has a unique structure with its old Etruscan and Roman acropolis situated on top of a hill. From here you can take a walk down through history amidst the medieval buildings along the road.
Although these days everybody seems to have been to Tuscany and most have visited Florence, Lucca, Siena and Chianti, huge areas of the region remain quite unknown, not only to tourists generally but also to the Tuscans themselves.
Sansepolcro nestles in the southeastern corner of Tuscany, just a few kilometers from Umbria and Marche. Although Sansepolcro is today an industrial town, the town centre is a great place to visit and abounds in rich medieval history.
