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POGGIA DI SOPRA |
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CETONA, TUSCANY, ITALY
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Unlike its near-namesake, Cortona in Arezzo province, the beautiful village of Cetona doesn't get many mentions in the guidebooks. Yet it has been attracting artists and well-heeled Romans for a number of years, drawn to its impossibly idyllic profile huddled around a hill and capped by a 12th-century castle shrouded by pine trees and the tranquillity of the surrounding countryside. Sixty kilometres south-east of Siena, about midway between Florence and Rome (an hour away on the motorway), Cetona is both a hideaway and a well-positioned base from which to explore southern Tuscany and even Umbria. Life in this honey-coloured medieval village revolves around piazza Garibaldi, below the old town, where there are a number of shops and sophisticated restaurants, such as Osteria Vecchia and Sobborgo, tucked away at the base of the vertiginous backstreets. The piazza is surrounded by churches and palazzos and dominated by the Rivellino tower, but the true spirit of the village is found in the passageways and narrow lanes that lead across quiet squares, past a 13th-century church and via unexpected vantage points towards the castle.
There are views of Cetona from the recently restored Poggio di Sopra, a five-minute drive away. Although close to the quiet road leading to the village, this vine-covered country house is on 10 acres of land and surrounded by well-landscaped and imaginatively planted gardens. The Roman owner has put a lot of time and effort into creating his ideal country retreat and the result is a marriage of traditional charm and contemporary comfort. The large kitchen and walk-in larder combine state-of-the-art, stainless-steel appliances with antique storage units; the enormous, beamed bathroom adjoining the twin master bedrooms has a raised, freestanding bath and a sauna. Space is not a problem: there are two living rooms and a TV room, a separate one-bedroom cottage with French doors to the garden, a dining terrace off the kitchen (the table seats 20), two further en-suite double bedrooms and a study with a sofabed.
SLEEPS
10 comfortably, with a sofabed for visitors
PRICE
£2,720-£4,114 per week, including maid service. Cook (dinners only) on request
CONTACT
Dolce Vita Villas (020 7436 0426; www.dolcevitavillas.com)
FLY
Ryanair (0871 246 0000; www.ryanair.com) or easyJet (0870 600 000; www.easyjet.com) to Rome (150km away)
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