Volterra
VOLTERRA :
More than 2,000 years ago — before vampires took over the town — Volterra was a key trading center and one of the most important Etruscan cities. (Tuscany is named after the Etruscan people, who lived here centuries before it was conquered by ancient Rome.) The city was protected by a four-mile-long wall — twice the size of the wall that encircles it today. You can still see its mighty Etruscan gate, built of massive stones of volcanic tuff.
Its Etruscan Museum is filled with precious artifacts from centuries before Christ. You'll see etched mirrors, intricately decorated pot handles, and exquisitely crafted jewelry. The museum's extensive collection of urns — with subjects lounging as if munching grapes with the gods at some heavenly banquet — is a reminder that the Etruscans believed the afterlife could be fun.
Volterra's 800-year-old city hall claims to be the oldest in Tuscany. Civic palaces like these were emblems of an era when city-states were powerful. They were architectural exclamation points declaring that townspeople, rather than popes and emperors, were calling the shots.
Alabaster has long been a big industry in Volterra. Softer and easier to work than marble, this translucent mineral was traditionally sliced thin to provide windows for Italy's medieval churches. At the Alab'Arte shop, across from the Etruscan Museum, you can watch artisans at work.
Extrait de :
www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/volter...
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Volterra
VOLTERRA :
More than 2,000 years ago — before vampires took over the town — Volterra was a key trading center and one of the most important Etruscan cities. (Tuscany is named after the Etruscan people, who lived here centuries before it was conquered by ancient Rome.) The city was protected by a four-mile-long wall — twice the size of the wall that encircles it today. You can still see its mighty Etruscan gate, built of massive stones of volcanic tuff.
Its Etruscan Museum is filled with precious artifacts from centuries before Christ. You'll see etched mirrors, intricately decorated pot handles, and exquisitely crafted jewelry. The museum's extensive collection of urns — with subjects lounging as if munching grapes with the gods at some heavenly banquet — is a reminder that the Etruscans believed the afterlife could be fun.
Volterra's 800-year-old city hall claims to be the oldest in Tuscany. Civic palaces like these were emblems of an era when city-states were powerful. They were architectural exclamation points declaring that townspeople, rather than popes and emperors, were calling the shots.
Alabaster has long been a big industry in Volterra. Softer and easier to work than marble, this translucent mineral was traditionally sliced thin to provide windows for Italy's medieval churches. At the Alab'Arte shop, across from the Etruscan Museum, you can watch artisans at work.
Extrait de :
www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/volter...
Voir aussi :