Yes — Cortona is the town from Under the Tuscan Sun. Frances Mayes bought and restored a villa called Bramasole on the hillside here, wrote a bestselling memoir about it in 1996, and in 2003 it became a film with Diane Lane.
This is the hub for everything about it: where to watch the film, how much of it was true, where each scene was actually shot, and what the town is really like now. It’s part of our complete Cortona travel guide.
Where to watch the film
Quick answer first, since a lot of people arrive here looking for it.
Under the Tuscan Sun (2003, dir. Audrey Wells) is widely available — it has been on major subscription streamers, turns up on free ad-supported services, and can be rented or bought from all the usual digital stores. Streaming rights rotate constantly and differ by country, so rather than give you a list that’s wrong by next month: check JustWatch or Reelgood for your region and it’ll tell you exactly where it’s playing today.
The book is a separate thing and still in print — Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy, Frances Mayes, 1996.
And then, if the film does its job on you: the town is real, it’s about ninety minutes from Florence, and the rest of this page is about going there.
The three things people usually want to know
- Is it a true story? — The book is. The film mostly isn’t. There was no divorce, no Marcello, and Mayes bought the house with her partner Ed. What was real, what was invented, and why the two versions diverge so far.
- Where was it filmed? — Every location, mapped: Cortona, Montepulciano, Positano, Rome and Florence. Including the villa that played Bramasole on screen — which you can actually rent — and the fountain that never existed.
- What does Bramasole mean? — “Yearning for the sun.” Where the real house stands above the town, why it isn’t the house in the film, and why you shouldn’t turn up at the gate.
The short version
The book (1996) is Frances Mayes’s memoir about buying a villa that had stood empty for thirty years and slowly bringing it back. It’s about plaster and olive trees and markets and meals, not plot. She followed it with Bella Tuscany and Every Day in Tuscany.
The film (2003) keeps the premise and the setting and invents a new story around it — a divorce, a romance, a cast of characters who aren’t in the book. It’s lighter, sunnier, and shot to make you book a flight.
The town is the part both versions got right. Cortona is a genuinely lived-in Etruscan-medieval hill town, not a set — and unlike San Gimignano it has absorbed its fame without turning into a theme park.
How to experience the real thing
The Cortona Mayes fell for isn’t behind a gate. It’s the whole town and the landscape around it.
- Walk the centre slowly. Linger in Piazza della Repubblica and Piazza Signorelli, the squares that anchor the film’s sense of place. Early morning and evening are pure Mayes.
- Climb toward Santa Margherita. The stepped walk up the hillside gives you the olive terraces and the sweeping valley light that fill the book — and it’s the direction Bramasole lies, so you pass through exactly that landscape without disturbing anyone.
- Go to the Saturday market. Mayes’s Tuscany is, above all, about food and the seasons. A morning at the market and a long lunch is the most faithful tribute you can pay.
- Taste the local wine. The estates below town pour the Cortona DOC Syrah that barely existed when the book came out and is now part of the town’s identity.
- Get out into the valley. Montepulciano — where the film’s flag-throwing scene was actually shot — Lake Trasimeno and Arezzo are all inside an hour. See our day trips from Cortona.
Stay where the story is set
The most immersive way to do this is to stay the night — ideally inside the walls, so you get the town in the gold of early morning and evening, or in a countryside villa with the olive terraces and valley views the book is really about. Either way, give yourself two nights: this is a town to live in for a moment, not to tick off.
If you want the film specifically, note that Villa Laura — the property that played Bramasole on screen — takes bookings. Details in the filming locations guide.
For everything else, see where to stay in Cortona, and when you’re ready to plan the practical side — getting here, what to see, how long to stay — head back to our complete Cortona travel guide.
Frequently asked questions
What town is Under the Tuscan Sun set in?
Cortona, a walled hill town in the Province of Arezzo in eastern Tuscany, about halfway between Florence and Rome. Frances Mayes bought a villa called Bramasole just outside it in 1989, and both her 1996 memoir and the 2003 film are set there.
Where can I watch Under the Tuscan Sun?
The 2003 film is widely available and rights move between services regularly, so the reliable answer is to check a listings site like JustWatch for your country. It has recently been available on major subscription streamers and to rent or buy from the usual digital stores, and it turns up on free ad-supported services too.
Where was Under the Tuscan Sun filmed?
Largely in Cortona itself, with the villa scenes shot at Villa Laura a few kilometres outside town. The production also filmed in Montepulciano, Positano on the Amalfi Coast, Rome and Florence, and built some interiors at Cinecittà Studios in Rome.
Can you visit Bramasole, Frances Mayes's house?
No. Bramasole is a private home on the hillside above Cortona and is not open to the public. The villa used in the film is a different property, Villa Laura, and that one can be rented.
Is Cortona worth visiting if I loved the film?
Yes, but come for the town rather than for a house. Cortona has an intact Etruscan-medieval centre, two excellent museums, sweeping views over the Val di Chiana and Lake Trasimeno, and its own wine appellation built on Syrah. Give it two nights and it rewards you far beyond the film connection.