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Volterra
The ancient but new city of Volterra stands on a 550 m hill, in the green uncontaminated heart of Tuscany, near the sea: it is 3,000 years old but skilfully conceals its age.
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We cannot speak of Volterra without recalling alabaster, the area's typical precious stone that has decorated museums, private dwellings and public monuments for hundreds of years.
A short distance from the Guarnacci Museum, we find the workshop Alab’arte, where visitors can both purchase and order unique precious furnishing items. But, on request, visitors can also watch craftsmen at work and the production of items.
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| » Volterra's cuisine |
The exceptionally rich and fertile woodland around Volterra, its location near the sea and thousand-year old culture converge in the cuisine.
Game, wild boar, pork, beef and fish, excellent truffles and an extensive selection of mushrooms are the ingredients behind a triumph of original flavours.
Starting from aperitifs at Vena di Vino or Osteria dei poeti, historical wine bars in the city centre, you can choose from 400 regional labels, accompanied by delicious cold pork meats and fresh and seasoned pecorino cheese provided for sampling.
Osteria dei poeti is open from early morning till late at night. It is also well organised for a quick meal, a delicious breakfast and a snack after dinner.
Of the typical first courses, try the Volterran soup made with spicy vegetables and 'pasta alla Norma' (with aubergines, cherry tomatoes and salted ricotta cheese), the schiacciata con l’uva (flat grape bread) made with flour, red wine grapes, sugar and oil, or the pappardelle (fresh egg pasta) with wild boar or hare sauce.
Second courses number the must try turbot with potatoes or bass baked in a foil parcel.
For dessert try Etruscan panforte cake and, cantuccini and ossi di morto biscuits.
Let's not forget the snack: between a visit to a handicrafts' store and a museum, take a break at Dolceria del Corso: it will doubtless make urban trekking sweeter.
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Magical in its scenic urban beauty, Volterra is the ideal place for a restful holiday marked by silence, genuine food and artistic visits to museums and outdoor sites. Sports enthusiasts will find energising walks in the neighbouring woods either on foot or on mountain bike in the adjacent luxuriant Val d’Elsa, Val di Cecina and Val d’Era. A must try is the walk to Balze, 2 km from the 14th century Door of San Francesco, where gradual land erosion has not damaged the beautiful baroque church of San Giusto and Clemente.
The city is world famous for its archaeological findings, which especially date back to Etruscan times, when it was called Velathri.
In Piazza dei Priori, once the city's medieval centre and, to date one of the most beautiful Italian squares, towers the Guarnacci Museum, in the city centre, the temple par excellence for Etruscan findings. Founded in 1761 through the generosity and far sight of archaeologist Mario Guarnaccio's cultural policy - he donated the jewels, statues, ivory, alabaster, bronze and terracotta remains found and catalogued by him to the city and the world - it was one of Europe's first public museums. The museum prides in two major attractions amidst its remarkable artistic heritage: Evening shadow and Urn of the spouses.
The former, a bronze votive statue that is half a metre high, depicts a very frail man; its stylisation, excellent craftsmanship and symbolic contemporary features are striking. In fact, it inspired D’Annunzio's poems, but we can say that after 2,300 years, this material shadow still enlightens the city: in 2007 Rodolfo di Gianmarco from La Repubblica was assigned a journalist prize dedicated to it and, the drama prize named after it was awarded to Gabriele Lavia shortly before.
The Urn of Spouses is a cinerary urn, which is highly relevant, since the Etruscans in Volterra inaugurated the cremation of the dead. The reasons are mysterious: either concern over hygiene or consistency in leaving no traces - they refused to hand down their writing and were deemed major experts in deciphering them (we could mention the haruspexes, that read the future by studying the guts of birds). This work, which portrays the clear happy realism of two spouses smiling and embraced while still alive, with no embellishments for their common features, is astounding.
Always in the heart of Volterra we find the picturesque via Matteotti, lined with restaurants and workshops, 13th century towered houses and the severe, highly refined Palazzo Maffei that dates back to the Renaissance.
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