Perched 600m up on a hillside Cortona is a medical town with narrow and steep streets and architecture.  The city overlooks Chiana Valley and  Lake Trasimeno, scene of Hannibal’s ambush of the Roman army in 217 BC.  Legend has it that Cortona was built some 273 years after the Great Flood.  After Arezzo it is the second largest artistic and cultural centre of the Chiana Valley.   After climbing 46 flights of stairs we made it to the top where Basilica of Santa Margherita is situated to take in the spectacle of modern interpretive Japanese dance and singing performance, and after few minutes promptly run down to the car to make dinner reservations in Montisi.