Basilica di Santa Margherita

The Basilica of Santa Margherita is a 19th-century neo-Gothic reconstruction of the 13th-century church built in honour of the town's patron saint. The interior is bright and serene, with a high vaulted ceiling and a glass casket at the high altar containing the body of Margherita herself.

The basilica sits just below the Medici fortress on a high terrace. The view down over the medieval streets and the valley beyond is among the best in Cortona. Free admission.

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A story
Margherita of Cortona — daughter of a farmer, mistress of a nobleman murdered in a feud — fled to Cortona in 1273 with her young son. She spent the rest of her life there as a Franciscan tertiary, working with the sick and poor. Her body, displayed at the high altar, has reportedly never decomposed in seven centuries.