About

The beautiful Piazza Signorelli of Cortona, with its typical irregular and uneven shape, is dominated by the magnificent Palazzo Casali, built in the sixteenth century. It has always been considered to be the palace of culture and today it houses the MAEC museum, the Museum of the Etruscan Academy and the City of Cortona, as well as the Etruscan Academy and its library. The museum was founded in 1727 when a few members of the Etruscan Academy donated some pieces of their private collections. Today the museum collects priceless Etruscan and Roman treasures, among which you can see the famous Etruscan Chandelier, as well as an Egyptian section with wonderful sarcophagi and funerary equipments. A medieval section preserves important works of painter Luca Signorelli, while a modern section displays some masterpieces by Gino Severini. Next to Palazzo Casali we can observe the Teatro Signorelli, which belongs to the Accademia degli Arditi. Built in the nineteenth century in neoclassical style, this theater is characterized by a lovely loggia with seven arches. The theater is also used as a meeting hall and houses every year the Tuscan Sun Festival. If you take the street between these two palaces down to the cathedral you will find on your right Palazzo Vagnotti, conceived in the eighteenth century as a theological study center and property of the bishops curate. Its majestic halls of the eighteenth century house every year the famous Antiques Exhibition Market, a must for all antiques and restoration lovers.