Guarnacci Museum
The Etruscan heritage is most fully represented at the Museo Guarnacci, via Don Minzoni 15(IV-IX 9.00-13.00 i 14.30-18.00; X-III 10.00-14.00; 3000 L). It is one of the most important archaeological museums in Italy and consists entirely of local finds, including about six hundred funeral urns, carved in alabaster, tufa and terracotta, and from the period from the 4th to the 1st century. BC.
Older graves have been destroyed, as the rocks collapsed into nothingness. On the side of the urns there are reliefs showing events from everyday life (often boar hunting) or Greek myths (usually a trip to the underworld); on the lid were a bust of the deceased and symbolic flowers — one for a young person, two for the deceased in middle age, three in honor of an elderly person. The urns intrigued D.. H. Lawrence’a, who in his Etruscan Places described them as "an open book of life… swollen with knowledge of generations ".
Unfortunately, the exposure, grouped by topic, it is terribly old-fashioned and not very informative, and only a few items stand out among mass-produced products. The best ones are mainly on the top floor, where exhibits from the Etruscan "golden period" were collected, lasting from the 3rd to the 2nd century. BC. Among them is the frequently reproduced Gli Sposi, tormenting portrait scene, portraying the husband and wife - piercing glances and terrifying expressions. Several small bronze sculptures are also exhibited on the same floor, including the amazing Ombra della Sera (The shadow of the evening), elongated naked figure, which inspired the Swiss sculptor Giacometti.
Rocca i Balze
Rocca Medici, with round towers and a central tower, dominates the southern part of the city. It is one of the most outstanding examples of Italian military architecture and perhaps the most overwhelming palace in the country. For the last century and a half, there has been a prison here for convicts to life imprisonment and recidivists - only tourist visits are prohibited.
There is a lush area of grassland beneath the prison, trees and shade called Parco Archeologico (codz. 10.00-12.00 i 16.00-19.00; Free entrance). There is not much archeology there - a few stone blocks, supposedly from a Roman bath - but it's nice to laze around for a few hours in this beautiful area. On the corner there is a snack bar with low prices. More traces of the past can be found in the northern part of the city, where the Roman theater complex and baths were unearthed, the latter with mosaic floors.
You go to Balze along Via di San Lino, northeast of Piazza dei Priori. It runs past the San Francisco Church, with 15th-century frescoes depicting the Legend of the Cross of Christ (for explanations see "Arezzo") Cenni di Cenni, and then goes out of town via Porta San Francisco. Next goes Borgo Santo Stefano and its extension, Borgo San Giusto, next to the baroque church and the former San Giusto abbey - sleepy, but the intriguing façade overlooks a cypress avenue.
At Balze, you can judge the extent of the Etruscan Volterra, whose walls fall into the abyss. Slope fissure and natural sand and clay erosion have been compounded by alabaster mining, both in antiquity and today. Below, there are entire stretches of Etruscan and Roman cities buried, and the crumbling of the ground continues - as evidenced by the closed and dilapidated Camoldesi Monastery, balancing on the edge of a cliff.
Practical details
The accommodation base in Volterra is not particularly impressive, if you judge it on the basis of the hotel list, but the local Cooperativa Nuova SCAP offers cheap places in a youth hostel, a campsite and several villas just outside town. Many rooms are also in the Monastery of San Andrea, on the north-eastern outskirts of the city; as a rule there will always be something free there the views are wonderful, and the price is only 10000 L per person.
As for SCAP headquarters, is a youth hostel, Youth Hostel i (0588/85577), it is located in a former palace near the Etruscan museum in via del Poggetto; open from 18.00. Membership is not required, and the silence of the night Fr. 23.00 shouldn't be a problem, considering the poor nightlife in Volterra. A bed in six-bed rooms costs money 12 000 L.
Camping, La Balze (*0588/87880; off season *0588/85132; open IV-IX), is pleasantly located - 1 km outside the city, od Borgo San Giusto; Follow the arrows to Balze.
Two SCAP villas, with prices more or less like in three-star hotels, are beautiful places to stay: Yilla Garden (0588/85634) located in San Girolamo, 500 m from the city; Villa House Aeoli (*0588/86041) standing 1 km outside of town at Borgo San Lazzero. There are five normal hotels — four three-star and one four-star. The most attractive of the three-star hotels is Villa Nencini (0588/86386), zaraz za Porta San Francisco; rooms cost approx 68000 L, but there are some without a bathroom after 50000 L.
Because Volterra is a hunting center, boar meat dominates in gastronomy (boar). The city is teeming with stuffed heads of unfortunate creatures, and the meat is sold as salami or ham, as well as baked goods in restaurants, next to the lepre (hare) the rabbit (rabbit). In terms of prices, the premises do not differ much from each other, so it's best to focus on quality and go to the most popular Rostorante Beppino, via delle Prigioni 15-19 (closed. wt.). You can eat cheaper only in a self-service place in via Matteotti 19 (main Street) or a few pizzerias - the best one opposite Beppino.
The easiest way to get out of Volterra is by bus. The Jolly Bar in Piazza Vente Settembre has tickets and timetables for the Tra-ln line to Pisa, Saint Gimignano, Siena and Florence. The nearest train station is in SALINA, 8 km from Volterry (bus connection); the railway line leads to a busy route along the coast between Pisa and Rome.
South to Massa Marittima
Most travelers visit Volterra on the Florence-San Gimignano-Siena route, on the way back east, or going north to Pisa. The way south, over the mountains to Massa Marittima, it is much less studied, despite the landscape values: the classic Tuscan landscape has an additional surreal accent here thanks to the presence of soffioni, hot steam geysers, from which boric acid is obtained.
LADERELLO is an interesting stop on the way to Massa. It is the center of the land of soffioni, where the ENEL power plant established a small museum, in which the history of the use of natural steam for energy purposes is presented. Great silver pipes run through the fields around the city, and from the chimneys among the blackened foliage steam and smoke constantly rises.