VOLTERRA LAND OF UL: 331 years after the Great Flood, Noah founded Volterra, naming it after his great-grandson UL. This is the Land of UL.
The historian Lodovico Falconcini, however, has no doubts about the foundation and origin of the name and, by counting and recounting, gives us as certain a very remote history that began 550 years before the destruction of Troy.
First of all, it is good not to forget, the author warns, that in ancient times Noah was called by a thousand different names: Seed of the World, Sun, Bacchus, Oenotrius and even Janus, so that very often people have mistakenly thought of characters distinct from each other when in fact they all refer to him alone.
During his second coming to Italy, 331 years after the universal flood that submerged the corrupt human race, he founded, among other things, Volterra. It was then the year 1850 before the coming of Christ.
When choosing the name for the city, the patriarch did not consider his own but left the privilege to his great-nephew Ul, son of Aram, son of Shem, to whom he was particularly fond.
At this point it doesn’t take much to understand: Volterra, or more correctly vulterra, means “Land of Ul,” from terra and Vul. Which Vul is none other than the Armenian genitive of the name Ul.
But before passing it on to his beloved descendant, Noah took great care to fortify it by building the first circle of walls that protected only the top of the hill.
A hundred years later, when he had already succeeded Noah in full enjoyment of the city, Ul found that the curtain wall erected by his great-grandfather had become a little too narrow for the increased space requirements, and so he eagerly set about expanding it accordingly.
Contents transcribed from the book “Volterra Magica e Misteriosa” by Franco Porretti, published by Pacini Editore in 2001. We thank Brunello Porretti for his kind permission.
