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Report 581: Autumn in Cetona, a Small Tuscan Hill Town

By Bud Lowe from Washington State, US, Fall 2004

Page 7 of 11: Porta Latare (Original watercolor)

photo by Original watercolor by Bud Lowe

Porta Latare

Like all of Tuscany, there is a view everywhere, even when just wandering around town, like the Via Sobborgo towards Porta Latare, one of the medieval gates on the south end of the ancient wall, still partly visible.

We did much walking on the roads and byways around Cetona - out by the farms and olive groves, up to the Convento di San Francesco, one of a string of Mondo X rehabilitation centers founded by Padre Eligio, down in the Chiana valley, the Valdichiana, and through the many narrow streets with their great variety of beautifully caved wood doors, potted flowers and plants - and cats.

Everywhere there is a view of the Valdichiana to the east where the Via Fancigena was the main medieval route from the north to Roma. It is now replaced by the Autostrada, but the panorama is still there, changing as the day changes. In the morning the fog fills the lower valleys (see the watercolor Valdichiana at Dawn in the Photo Album), during the day the fields show their varying shades of green and ochre, and at night the lights of the farms and agriturismi are visible across the valley, topped by the lights of Citta della Pieve in Umbria in the distance.

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