Tuscany · Siena
Cetona
A medieval borgo below Monte Cetona, sold by Cosimo I to the Vitelli in 1556 and the centro storico still shaped by their fortress reconstruction.
Known for
VITELLI
Marchese Chiappino Vitelli bought the town from Cosimo I in 1556 and reshaped it around the Renaissance Piazza Garibaldi at the foot of the medieval grid.
MONTE CETONA
1,148-meter ridge above the borgo, dividing the Val d'Orcia from the Val di Chiana, with Paleolithic caves on the southwestern flank.
BELVERDE
Cave complex on Monte Cetona with Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age occupation, and a hermitage with Cola Petruccioli frescoes nearby.
When to visit
Best · Apr–Oct
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
The festa: Stefano, 26 December
Why come
Cetona sits on the western flank of Monte Cetona, the 1,148-meter ridge that separates the Val d'Orcia from the Val di Chiana at the meeting point of Toscana, Umbria and Lazio. Paleolithic and Neolithic finds in the Belverde caves on the mountain confirm continuous human use since the Mesolithic. The medieval comune was alternatingly ruled by Siena, Orvieto and Perugia before passing to Siena in the late fourteenth century.
In 1556, Cosimo I de' Medici sold the town to Marchese Chiappino Vitelli, who turned the medieval fortress at the top of the borgo into a private residence and laid out the elegant Piazza Garibaldi below. That Renaissance urban gesture, a flat civic stage at the foot of a steep medieval grid, is what most visitors notice first. The Convento di San Francesco has stood since 1212 and the Eremo di Santa Maria a Belverde, in the woods above the town, holds fourteenth-century frescoes by Cola Petruccioli of Orvieto.
The Sunday letter
We haven’t written Cetona’s letter yet.
One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.
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What to see
Piazza Garibaldi
Sixteenth-century elliptical square laid out by Chiappino Vitelli at the foot of the medieval grid, the civic stage of the borgo.
Rocca di Cetona
Medieval fortress at the top of the centro storico, converted to a private Vitelli residence in 1556, with surviving walls and the keep.
Convento di San Francesco
Franciscan convent founded in 1212 below the borgo, with a single-nave church and a small cloister still in religious use.
Eremo di Santa Maria a Belverde
Fourteenth-century hermitage in the woods on Monte Cetona, with frescoes by Cola Petruccioli of Orvieto, accessible by a marked path.
Grotte di Belverde
Paleolithic and Bronze Age cave complex on Monte Cetona, documented since the Mesolithic, open seasonally with guided tours.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Cetona fits in a slow Italy circuit.
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We recommend
Where to eat and stay
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to — a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Da NiloRistorante
Da Nilo carries a spot in the Michelin Guide.
Il Tiglio di Piazza da NiloTrattoria
Il Tiglio di Piazza da Nilo has one Gambero Rosso prawn to its name.
Living here
- Population 2,488
- Off the beaten pathi
- Pharmacy in town
- Nearest high school over ~30 minutes away
- Nearest airport Bologna, 2 h 47 min drive
- Regional capital Firenze, 1 h 47 min drive
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
The numbers
- Elevation: 384 m
- Population: 2,488
- Surface area: 53.57 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Close by
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