Tips for shopping in Cortona

A list of Cortonaweb’s business partners with complete webpages where you will find addresses, phone numbers and website link. All information about the shops and what to buy will be just a click away. Many of our partners provides home deliveries and international shipments, so you can buy products you saw in Cortona from home.

The “Cocciai”

Traditional terracotta from Cortona is known as “cocci” and is made by using an antique engobe or slip technique, which is used when the item to be decorated is still damp and the typical yellow background with the green and brown flower are painted.

Using this method, Cortonese artisans make plates, cups, carafes and other objects of tableware, but also traditional pots, gifts, vases and much, much more.

The items are entirely handmade.

The Mercati

When in Cortona, an event you shouldn’t miss is the Saturday market; on Saturday mornings, at daybreak, the Piazza Signorelli and the neighboring streets come alive with multicolored stalls selling a wide selection of fine goods, from high quality produce to typical Tuscan cured meats, cheese, porchetta (if you’re not a vegetarian don’t miss out on this experience and get yourself a juicy porchetta roll, a real must when in Tuscany!), clothes, shoes as well as flowers, plants, household goods, handicrafts, costume jewelry, furnishings and much, much more. All merchandise is very good quality and reasonably priced. The Cortonese love this market and crowd the piazza and the adjacent streets to shop around the stalls and meet up with friends for a chat.

From 8 in the morning to lunchtime, you will be able to browse through this colorful array of stalls, immersed in a unique atmosphere created by the buzz of people chatting around you, stall-owners shouting their best prices to attract customers and scents wafting through the air and making your mouth water.