Cetona

The first mention of Cetona as a “Castle” dates between 1207 and 1214, when it was under the rule of Count Ildebrandino but subject to the sovereignty of the Republic of Orvieto. The village gradually developed around the Castle, now known locally as “la rocca” – a typical medieval settlement of houses clustered in a spiral formation up the steep, tower-crowned slopes of the hillside.

Within the territory of Cetona lies one of Central Italy’s oldest settlements, dating back some 40,000 years. The remains can be explored at the evocative Belverde Archaeological Park and its 25 prehistoric caves, now illuminated by an innovative and eco-friendly solar power installation. The archaeological finds are housed in the “Museum of Prehistory of Monte Cetona”, located on the ground floor of the Town Hall – a museum described by experts as “didactically flawless”.

A community of ancient origins, and yet simultaneously a vibrant centre of contemporary life, Cetona has been the chosen residence of VIPs since the 1960s, who have purchased and restored farmhouses and rural properties here.

Cetona’s history unfolds through the conflict between Siena and Orvieto, with Orvieto enjoying support from Florence in the mid-13th century, followed by a brief period of Perugian rule (14th century), and finally coming under the control of the Sienese Republic in 1418. Siena’s rule lasted until the fall of the Republic in the mid-16th century, when Grand Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici granted Cetona in feud to the Marquis Chiappino Vitelli, who transformed the rocca into a residence and built the grand square (now Piazza Garibaldi), overlooked by Palazzo Vitelli. In 1772 Cetona became a municipality, administratively linked to Sarteano until 1840.

Today Cetona has a population of 3,000 and covers an area of 53 square kilometres, which includes the mountainous zone of Monte Cetona itself, known in antiquity as “Monte Piesi” (1,148 metres), and a hilly region descending towards the plains of the Astrone Valley. Beyond the main town, situated at 385 metres, the municipality encompasses the recently developed village of Piazze and the localities of Belverde and Camporsevoli.

Although elite residential tourism has brought Cetona considerable renown, the municipality retains its rural character, on which the local economy primarily depends.

Archaeology

The mountain of Cetona has yielded some of the earliest evidence of human habitation in the entire Valdichiana valley. In the small Gosto cave, numerous stone tools were found dating to the Mousterian culture (80,000–40,000 years ago). Similar artefacts have been discovered in the Lattaia cave, a site of ancient water veneration, believed to have offered abundance of milk during motherhood.

Analysis of materials excavated in 1939 revealed that Lattaia cave was frequented from the Middle Palaeolithic through to the Proto-Villanovan period (11th–10th centuries BC) and, subsequently, in Roman times, as evidenced by a votive deposit from the 1st century AD.
Numerous other caves, forming the most significant complex on the entire Monte Cetona, are located near Belverde.

Between 1928 and 1935, thirteen cavities were explored, yielding the most comprehensive documentation of the Bronze Age in central Italy. Particularly noteworthy is a visit to the monumental San Francesco cave, where several hearths were discovered alongside numerous vessels associated with carbonised remains of cereals and legumes. Similar finds were present across most of the cave’s area: some can be attributed to the Rinaldone culture (Copper Age) and the Apennine culture (Bronze Age).

In the upper level, concretised remains dating to the Mousterian period were uncovered. The numerous rock cuts visible in various parts of the Belverde area, particularly near the so-called amphitheatre, are thought to be quarries, possibly from the Roman period.

In 1990, the Civic Museum of Prehistory of Monte Cetona was inaugurated, documenting the various phases of human settlement in the area from the Palaeolithic through to the end of the Bronze Age.

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