Volterra - Saturday 23rd June

Saturday 23 June

On Saturday afternoon we went to Volterra. Volterra is on top of a mountain with incredible views of the Tuscan hills all around. Whilst we were there looking out at the views we think we saw a nuclear power station on the horizon.

Volterra’s history dates back to the Etruscans (BC) and later a roman settlement. In the 5th century, Volterra was a religious settlement and in the 12^th and 13^th century there were a lot of conflicts with Florence and local rebellions. More wars (Gee these guys used to fight a lot).

The main sights included the Roman Theatre dating back to the 1st century BC (excavated in the 1950s), Piazza dei Priori, Palazzo dei Priori (dating back to 1208).

We went inside the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and saw the most incredible paintings and statues and decorated ceiling. There was lots of stained glass windows. Mum couldn’t go in because she was wearing a skirt which was above her knees (again! She said she is going to buy a sarong to keep in her back pack). The cathedral dates back to the 13th century. Our brochure says it “houses a ciborium and some angels by Mino da Fiesole, a notable wood Deposition (1228), a masterwork of Romanesque sculpture and the Sacrament Chapel, with paintings by Santi di Tito, Giovanni Balducci and Agostino Veracini. In the center of the vault are fragments of an Eternal Father by Niccolò Circignani. Also noteworthy is the Addolorata Chapel, with a terracotta group attributed to Andrea della Robbia and a fresco of Riding Magi by Benozzo Gozzoli”. We're not sure which was which but they were all beautiful.

The town is surrounded by Etruscan walls dating back to 300-200BC and also has historic gates.

There were so many little chapels there as well, rooms no bigger than our storerooms which were all just like mini churches inside. Also outside the town are excavations of Etruscan tombs but we didn’t get there.

In the main Piazza dei Priori there was a food fair and we bought some biscuit things called "taralli", they were yum. A little like BBQ shapes but all natural says mum.

There was some buildings including the main tower where there was restoration work going on.

We walked up and down the many narrow cobblestone streets and laneways. We didn’t see any vampires – probably because we left before it got dark. Volterra is where the Volturi vampires are from in the Twilight series. We saw heaps of dark laneways and large wooden doors leading into dark buildings – scary. But in the book it said that the Volturi don’t eat people in their home town. Phew! We weren’t game enough to go there in the night.

We had a yum gelato and bought some postcards and then drove home just before sunset.

We had a great day.


 

Elodie, Holly and Erin.