Who wants to get to know the Etruscan side of Tuscany will enjoy a tour through the towns and villages that were founded by them. A fascinating journey to Volterra, Fiesole, Arezzo, Populonia, to name a few, on a path of art, history and landscape. According to the description by Dionysius Halicarnassus, the greek historian, the Etruscans were an ancient and unique people, without no language and lifestyle affinity with other people. The term Etruscan indicates a population that lived in Etruria, between the 9th and the 3rd century B.C.
The Etruscan civilization represents one of the most important cultures in Italy and throughout the Mediterranean basin. After departing from the region delimited by the rivers Arno and Tiber, to which they gave the name (Tuscia), they affirmed their dominance in other areas of the Italian peninsula such as the Po Valley, in Emilia, Liguria, Umbria, Lazio, and Campania, with intense trades with all the peoples of the Mediterranean basin.
Etruria never became a united state as every city always maintained its own autonomy of government, with many armed confrontations among the various cities. One of the rare occasions of unity was the religious meeting at Fanum Voltumnae.
The major cities were twelve, and they constituted the Dodecapolis: Veio, Cerveteri, Tarquinia, Vulci, Orvieto, Chiusi, Vetulonia, Volterra, Perugia, Cortona, Arezzo, and Fiesole. Pisa, Populonia and Roselle entered in the twelve after an economic crisis forced three of the original ones out.
Thanks to archeological campaigns and investigation, the remains of the necropolis, settlements, craft areas and materials were brought back to light. Ceramics and metals gave us an insight on the uses, customs, daily life, trade relations and the history of this people. The remains of a 6th century BC shrine found at the Leaning Tower of Pisa and an imposing 7th century BC tomb mound in the suburbs of Pisa definitely discredit the theory that the Etruscan expansion did not go beyond the river Arno in Pisa.
Volterra surprises with its beautiful urns, stone-carved sarcophagi, and gold and bronze jewelery, just like Populonia with its necropolis and the ruins of the acropolis. Urban centers such as Vetulonia, Roselle, Poggio Buco, Marsiliana, Sovana, Saturnia, Orbetello, and Cosa are a hive of sites rich with remains and Etruscan life traces of great depth and meaning.
Other areas such as Siena and the Valdichiana deserve much attention. Chianciano Terme preserves the remains of the Temple of Fucoli and countless other artefacts at the Archaeological Museum of Waters, while Chiusi has some of the most famous painted tombs.
Moreover, Arezzo homes the magnificent “Chimera“, one of the most famous Etruscan bronzes, while Cortona is where the omonimus famous candelabrum was found. Minor but nonetheless important areas to discover the Etruscans are also Fiesole, Prato and some places in the Chianti where several opportunities to learn more of the unique and mysterious Etruscan civilization are preserved.
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