
YOUR HOME
IN CORTONAWELCOME AND INTRODUCTION
Firstly, welcome! And let us say this is not our home. This is your home in Cortona for however long you choose to stay!

Palazzo Passerini was always conceived as the place in Cortona for the discerning traveller and not as a personal home for us. We have spent the best part of three years designing procuring and curating this experience for you. As Architects, we look at every detail but as travellers, we understand how important the experience is.
Our highly experienced and talented team, from our marketing and media guru, to house manager Marialena and her dedicated team of cleaners, handymen and artisans who maintain the property, are here to make your stay an experience you will always remember and want to return to.
Please tell us what you want from your visit to Palazzo Passerini. Our network and contacts mean we can arrange whatever you want to do, without wasting your precious time finding the best way. Marialena is here to help you do exactly that, so please discuss your plans with her.
It may be peace and quiet you crave, although this lively medieval town offers a full calendar of events that may pull you away from more introverted pursuits at home from time to time.
Cortona and Palazzo Passerini Residenza (to give its full name) is a base for exploring the wider Tuscan and Umbrian countryside and some of the greatest cities of art and culture – Florence, Siena, Arezzo, Perugia, and Pisa to name a few. Or even go to Florence, Rome or Milan and return in a day, with fast trains connecting these cities from local stations in Camucia or Terontola (use the Frecciarossa- Red Arrow high-speed rail service).
Alternatively, you may want to explore on bicycles, visit vineyards, eat good food (of course) and drink great coffee in the Piazzas of Cortona, Gubbio, Assisi, Città di Castello, Sansepolcro or other famous Tuscan and Umbrian towns. Or walk or cycle in the staggeringly beautiful Niccone valley.
Cortona itself has a lot to offer, from great food and wine to culture and art. Visit one of our recommended restaurants or go to the market (on Saturday mornings) less than 200m from Palazzo Passerini and buy the ingredients to cook in the kitchen on our Italian Smeg range. Visit Santa Margherita at the top of the town or wander amongst the many art galleries. Play tennis at the amazingly located Cortona Tennis Club overlooking the Val di Chiana or walk along the avenue of trees in the Parterre to the swimming pool.


Palazzo Passerini is ideal for small groups of 6, friends and family, to enjoy an authentic medieval Palazzo in one of the most beautiful medieval hill towns in Tuscany.
If it’s countryside you want, just walk to the Etruscan walls (2-3,000 years old) of the city and look towards the Val di Chiana or North towards the Umbrian mountains. Walk out of the town (gate) to Le Celle di San Francesco dating back to 1221; the retreat of St Francis of Assisi to find peace in the Umbrian forests with its oak, chestnuts and beech trees and maybe see its famous cinghiale (wild boar) rummaging in the undergrowth. Beware at night though, that’s when the cinghiale really do roam the roads around Cortona, and some of them are really big!
Visit or sail on Lago Trasimeno, visible from Piazza Garibaldi, where Hannibal once defeated and slaughtered a Roman army of 26,000! Yes, these are the mountains of Hannibal on his elephants too! The history of the city can best be conveyed at the City Museum in Piazza Signorelli, a good starting point if you have never been to Cortona before and just a few metres from Palazzo Passerini.
HISTORY OF PALAZZO PASSERINI

The people of Cortona welcomed their new mayor by presenting him with the building (Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo) that now overlooks the main Piazza Nazionale. This building was then renamed Palazzone Passerini as it is known to this today. Confusing perhaps, but the building you now stay in was the original built by Passerini himself. However, by 1521 this building had been superseded by events and the advance of the new renaissance age, so styles had changed. Like something from your childhood, you discard as a forgotten trinket, it was largely overlooked but may have been occupied by other members of the Passerini family.

STEMMA (Crest)
However, and there is always a twist, it was said that Passerini was somewhat harsh in the application of his rule and the taxes he extracted from the people of Cortona, who wrote to the Pope to report this information. The Pope was none other than Lorenzo di Medici, who had now become Pope Leo X in Rome! He sent a special envoy to see Cardinal Passerini, who as punishment was directed to make the bull on his new crest kneel as a sign of humility. Maybe this light ‘punishment’ was in deference to their former friendship!

RENOVATION

So why Cortona and why Palazzo Passerini? Cortona was known to us through a friend who had owned and operated boutique hotels in Cortona and Umbria before the term ‘boutique’ really existed in hospitality. During a visit to this country house hotel in 2003, we sealed not only a lifelong friendship but an ambition to do something similar ‘one day’. So that day came when almost despairingly in 2019 looking all over Tuscany for the right place, we found Palazzo Passerini.
As we walked with the local agent Lorenzo through the Piazza, having seen another six properties that morning, Mark turned to Lorenzo in frustration and said ‘look, what we want is an authentic medieval hall with a big fireplace’ (as if it was not too much to ask!). Lorenzo in his calm and generous way then offered to call Maria, who was known to be thinking about selling but had not yet decided. A meeting was hastily arranged and before Mark had seen the whole property had whispered to Charles that ‘this was it’! We instinctively knew it was right.
What you see today is a contemporary interpretation of ‘medieval’ luxury. Not only have the services been completely updated with high-speed internet and mobile booster but bathrooms and kitchens have been replaced or new ones installed. The aim has been to emphasise the handsome architecture of the interior whilst adding contemporary but comfortable furniture, working with local artisans and companies to feature the best Italian products.
Fabrics throughout the property are supplied by Busatti (founded in 1842) of Anghiari, just an hour’s drive from Cortona and well worth a visit. Curtains, linen and soft furnishings are all supplied by them and towels and bedding as well as dining chairs have the distinct bird and crown logo taken from the ‘Stemma’ woven onto the fabric.


The interior was completed by craftsmen from Palazzo Morelli, a family-owned interior fit-out firm in Todi, with kitchen and bathroom cabinetry and marble work by them. Stone and floor cleaning were also arranged using local experts in the restoration of terracotta floors and the local pietra serena stone door and fireplace surrounds had to be carefully cleaned.
The brassware was supplied by Italian manufacturer Nicolazzi with a contemporary style in brushed brass as a natural finish; as the brassware ages, it will naturally gain a tarnish which is intentional.
Stone and specifically Carrara marble are used sparingly for kitchen surfaces and bathroom surrounds with basalt stone used for shower bases. The entrance area outside has been resurfaced with the traditional pietra serena (rigatto) for slip resistance and is commonly used in almost all Tuscan cities as paving.
A place to contemplate life’s important questions
Sign up for exclusive e-mail updates on
our promotions and carefully curated
Italian vacation ideas
Our team is here to
help you with any
questions you have

ABOUT
Feedback
Our story
Rates
HELP