tuscany
EXCURSIONS IN VOLTERRA TO BOOK:
from FLORENCE
FL02. S.Gimignano/Volterra Full day
from LIVORNO Seaport
LI04. San Gimignano/Volterra Full day
Volterra
Volterra can be reached from Firenzeand Siena taking the SGC Firenze-Siena exit Colle Val d'Elsa, then from Colle Val d'Elsa take the road n°68 to Volterra (from Colle are about 30 km).
From the 8th century B.C. the Etruscans began to spread out over the slopes and in the 4th century B.C. the great defensive wall, more than seven kilometres long, was erected to enclose the urban centre and also arable and pasture land.
Defended by its natural position and impregnable fortifications, the Etruscan Velathri registered a remarkable development in its economy based on the mineral deposits of copper and silver in an area rich in forests and agriculture. Velathri became one of the twelve city states of Etruria with a territory that extended from the river Pesa to the Tyrrhenian sea and from the river Arno to the basin of the Cornia river. It was the last of the Etruscan Lucomons was forced to recognise the supremacy of Rome in the 3rd century B.C. after the battle of Lake Vadimone (283 B.C.) and became part of the Italic Confederacy in 260 B.C. changing its name to Volaterrae.
Things to see
Museo Etrusco Guarnacci, Pinacoteca and Museo Civico, Duomo, Teatro Romano, Piazza dei Priori, Arco Etrusco, Parco Archeologico della Fortezza.
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Campania
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Tuscany
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