Street in Volterra
So it’s our first day “under the Tuscan sun" and it’s hailing! Fortunately, it didn’t last long, though it was cold all day. What a change from the first day when we were wondering why we bothered to bring warm clothes when it was so hot.
We had a tour of this ancient (5000 years old) and charming town and learned about its interesting history. It dates back to the Etruscans, well before the founding of Rome. We learned about the Etruscans and saw the oldest existing Etruscan stone arch. The Romans certainly used the stone arch to great advantage, but it was the Etruscans who invented it. The Etruscans had a strong culture, beautiful art and jewelry and strong building skills. The Romans conquered them and the victors always write the history. The Etruscans got a bad rap.
When Italy was a collection of city-states, Volterra was one of the most powerful, rival to Florence. Their town hall (circa 1200) once ruled a large area and was the architectural inspiration for Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio. Now Volterra is a charming town of about 6000, mostly artisans and restaurateurs.
We spent most of the day exploring the steep and narrow cobbled streets of town, with pizza and wine for lunch, gelato in the afternoon and wine tasting in a cellar in the evening.