Millennial History

Construction began in the first century BC by the Etruscan family Caecina. The scene was twice the orchestra, the auditorium had two tiers of steps and on the steps were written the names of the most important families of Volterra. Inside there are the remains of the baths, even today we can see the ingenious architecture of the pipes to heat the water and the environment.

The building dates back to the early nineteenth century, the opening is dated August 15, 1820. The theater is part of the “Incontri” building, which occupies the ground floor including the garden. The curtain represents Aulus Persius Flaccus (an important poet from Volterra) on the Parnassus together with the Muses.

It is the most famous monument of the Etruscan Volterra. Built with megaliths, three stone heads are clearly visible on the outer arch; these are the three main elements of the arch, the three sculpted heads represent Jupiter (Tinia for the Etruscans) and the two protectors of the city, Castore and Polluce, or Uni and Minerva.

It is the oldest municipal building in Tuscany, currently the Town Hall. It began building in 1208 and finished around mid-1257. Outside, terracotta ware and coats of arms remember the priors who governed the city. Inside important works, including a Crucifixion, a Madonna and Child and a large fresco of the Annunciation.

The splendid Archaeological Park has been inhabited since 500 BC, and occupies an area of considerable interest. It is the Acropolis hill where three layers of civilization, Etruscan, Roman and medieval, overlapped. Excavations have also discovered a Roman pool carved into the rock with six pillars of the 2nd century AD.

Built in the mid-18th century, it is one of the oldest public museums in Europe and hosts important testimonies of the Etruscan and Roman past of the city. Inside you can admire over six hundred cinerary urns in alabaster, tuff and some in terracotta (dating back to the III century BC), bronzes, glasses, ivories, ceramics, gold, weapons and coins.

Main conservative and exhibition center of the Volterra art from the 12th to the 17th century. The collection consists of works by very important artists, including Taddeo di Bartolo, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Luca Signorelli and Peter de Witte, but above all emerges the Rosso Fiorentino Masterpiece.

Located in the beautiful Church of Sant’Agostino, in the center of Volterra, the museum collects works from the Cathedral and the churches of the great Diocese of Volterra. It preserves the only marble sculptures that remain of the fourteenth-century monuments of the Cathedral. Very important are also a collection of sacred wallpapers and choral books in parchment.

It was built by Lorenzo the Magnificent. It was the refuge of Florence inside Volterra, before the war of 1472. It appears with a majestic and imposing appearance and is visible from any part of Volterra, as it was built on the highest point of the hill. Today it is used as a penitentiary.

This name indicates the impressive majestic chasm in the tuff, due to the continuous landslides of the layers of soil. Millennia of erosion of “blocked” water from the clays, which created over 100 meters of cliffs, called badlands. An exciting and unique landscape in its superb beauty. Here was the Etruscan necropolis.

Alabaster is a white stone, much softer than marble and therefore easier to work with. For years it has been one of the main resources of the territory of Volterra. The Etruscans began to extract and work it in the 5th / 4th century BC The tradition continues today with sculptures, ornaments, statues, vases and many other objects.