Under the Tuscan Sun

Mayes drives to Cortona, passing Etruscan tombs on the hillsides. She walks the central piazzas with a guidebook, noting open-air markets, festivals, and the social rhythm of café conversations. She observes the architectural layers—from Etruscan foundations and medieval facades to modern shopfronts—and sees how families live above their stores. She points out the narrow, often sealed side doors, known as “doors of the dead” (151), once used, during the plague, to carry out corpses, a reminder of how daily life intersects with old customs.

She visits artisan shops: a clock repairer, a cobbler, and a tailor who shares old photographs. She buys produce from Maria Rita, a vendor, and they trade recipes. In a frame shop, she accidentally breaks an antique mirror and insists on paying the owner, Antonio. Climbing to upper Cortona, she steps into churches to see significant art and Etruscan artifacts. She ends her walk at the Etruscan wall called Bramasole, which gives her house its name, and reflects on the ancient sun worship embedded in the stones.