[3] According to linguist Helmut Rix, ethnic in Etruscan was curthute (curѳute), attested as a gentile in an inscription from Chiusi, in the province of Siena.

The famous battle of Trasimeno took place not far away and the hamlet of Ossaia, not far from the battlefield, takes its name because the remains of the dead were amassed there, becoming an ossuary.

The 17th-century Guide of Giacomo Lauro, reworked from writings of Annio da Viterbo, states that 108 years after the Great Flood, Noah entered the Valdichiana via the Tiber and Paglia rivers.

One of Noah's descendants was Crano, his son who came to the hilltop and, liking the high position, the fine countryside and the calm air, built the city of Cortona on it in 273 years after the Great Flood.

The prevailing character of Cortona's architecture is medieval with steep narrow streets situated on a hillside at an elevation of 600 metres (2,000 ft) that embraces a view of the whole of the Valdichiana.

Cortona Archaeological Park[9] hosts interesting remains from the Etruscan city state, including ancient walls, buildings and ceremonial tombs.

Among its most famous ancient artefacts is the bronze lampadario or Etruscan hanging lamp, found at Fratta near Cortona in 1840 and then acquired by the Academy for the large sum of 1600 Florentine scudi.

Etruscan chamber-tombs nearby include the Tanella di Pitagora[12] (halfway up the hill from Camucia): the fine masonry of the tomb stands exposed, but was formerly covered by an earth mound.

[14] The town's chief artistic treasures are two panels by Fra Angelico in the Diocesan Museum, an Annunciation and a Madonna and Child with Saints.

The Diocesan Museum houses also a group of work by Giuseppe Maria Crespi, known as Lo Spagnuolo, called Ecstasy of Saint Margaret.

The archaeological park of Cortona has 11 sites, among which is the second tumulus of the Sodo, an imposing 6th century BC tomb with a monumental staircase decorated by large sculptural groups.

The interior contains paintings depicting a Nativity by Alessandro Allori, San Carlo Borromeo administers communion to those afflicted by Plague by Baccio Ciarpi, and an Annunciation by Empoli.

[20] Schlansky, being a recurring visitor of Cortona, is awarded a parking space by the city's mayor and introduces O' Brien to his favourite restaurant, where he, with questionable success, explains the food, wine, and the surrounding area, to his travel companion.

Cortona was also featured in Frances Mayes' book Under the Tuscan Sun, basis for the eponymous movie starring Diane Lane.

Cortona was also featured in Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 1, episode 8: "I, Robot... You, Jane", where a circle of priests trap the demon Moloch into a book using a magic ritual.