(Earlier today, the fantastic Fattorio Lisceto)
May 27, 2009
The 159 darted towards the town of Volterra. The road was narrow, winding and climbing at an atrocious angle. The car that had demonstrated good straight line speed yesterday on A12 started to struggle needing me to dip down to the 1st gear to make a slope. The 159 is not made for Italian roads at all.
Gradually, the Etruscan walls towered above us and we entered Volterra. We fell in love with the place in seconds.
This is how we had imagined Tuscan hill towns to be. This is how we had seen them in movies. Cobbled narrow streets barely wider than sidewalks in US. Old yet immaculately maintained two-three storey buildings. Colorful trattorias. Little boutiques selling colorful wares. People milling around lazily with no apparent schedule to the itinerary.
The first order of the day was to find a place to eat. We stumbled upon Al Ristoro on Via des Marchegi and had a long lazy lunch. Italian cuisine need not be talked about. Simple, nutritious, mouthwatering and filling.
The second order of the day, and we would follow this routine in every town we would visit, was to find the main Piazza, In Volterra, it is called Piazza de Priori. It was here that the people of Volterra executed Ottaviano for trying to surreptitiously sell Volterra to Pisa for 32K florins.
We bought ourselves some books and curios and started to explore.
Volterra has been inhabited since the Neolithic period and came to life in the 7th century BCE. Around the 4th Century BCE, under the Etruscans, the city peaked with 116 hectares of inhabitable area and 7 kilometers of uninterrupted wall – parts of which exist to date – enclosing it. Romans defeated the Etruscans in 283 which bought with it affluence and aid.
The city was always under the threat of war, with nearby Pisa, Siena, Florence and Rome, all in a perpetual expansion mode. Lorenzo Di Medici, the magnificent, leads siege on the city and sacked it.
Somewhere along, Volterra discovered alabaster and how to put it to use and it became a major trade.
We made our way to the 1 century BCE amphitheatre.
The Teatro Romano is on the northwest was built during the Augustine 
era in the traditional Roman style. The semi-circular cavea (the auditorium) is flush against the hill side and beautifully preserved. The subterranean galleries and parts of the stage – including a recent re-construction – gives a good idea how this would have looked in its days of splendor.
I bought a E3 ticket that gave me entry to the site.
Since most tourist prefer to see the theatre from the hillside, it was the first time in Italy that I had such monopolistic access to a site of such importance .
The natural slope and the continued disuse converted this site in the middle ages into a garbage pit – the garbage itself being of historical importance.
We took a circuitous path, avoiding the crowd – sparse compared to what we saw in Rome – yet sizable as Volterra has been firmly established on the tourist map.
On a backstreet, we found a signage of an alabaster studio and decided to duck in. We found an old artist bent over an unfinished piece, industriously chipping away with his tools.
His day seemed to light up as we stepped in to admire his handicraft displayed on the shelf.
After he realized that I was looking for a chess piece – a Knight - to take back with me, he pulled out a piece he has left unfinished and completed it right in front of us with a curious-as-ever Rhea in full attendance. He then carved Rhea’s initials on the bottom and presented it to her with flourish.
We then made our way to the Etruscan Necropolis atop the hill that enjoys one of the best views of the town.
Volterra had so much more to offer. Piazza San Giovanni, the religious heart with the cathedral (with Pisano’s facade), the bell tower and the unique octagonal Baptistery (built to Brunelleschi's deign). The Diocesan Museum of Holy Art near Piazza de Priori that has masterpieces including a crucifix made by Giambologna.
Instead, we chose to take little empty streets, crossing courtyards, briefly stopping by at Fonte Docciola – a fresh water fountain built in 1254 and enjoyed the silhouette of the Rocca Medicea – the 1343 fortress – today used as a prison.
I was even tempted to visit the picturesque Badia Camaldolese and abandoned 1000 year old monastery. We had decided that the two days in Rome would be the only hectic ones on this trip. We decided we had done enough.
We picked up our silver ride and started back to the farmhouse. Little did we know there was a lightshow waiting for us.
(Read on: back to Fattorio Lisceto for a “lightshow”)
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