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Volterra
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Volterra is a town in the Tuscany region of Italy.
town was a Neolithic settlement and an important Etruscan center with an original civilization; it became a municipium in the Roman Age. The city was a bishop's residence in the 5th century and its episcopal power was affirmed during the 12th century. With the decline of the episcopate, Volterra was the subject of the interest of Florence, which defeated Volterra many times though rebellions sometimes took place.
When the Florentine Republic fell in 1530, Volterra came under the control of the Medici family and later followed the history of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
Main sights
Outside the city, in direction of Lajatico, is the Medici Villa di Spedaletto.
Discussion
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Encyclopedia
Volterra is a town in the Tuscany region of Italy.
History
The town was a Neolithic settlement and an important Etruscan center with an original civilization; it became a municipium in the Roman Age. The city was a bishop's residence in the 5th century and its episcopal power was affirmed during the 12th century. With the decline of the episcopate, Volterra was the subject of the interest of Florence, which defeated Volterra many times though rebellions sometimes took place.
When the Florentine Republic fell in 1530, Volterra came under the control of the Medici family and later followed the history of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
Main sights
- Roman Theatre (1st century BC), excavated in the 1950s.
- Piazza dei Priori, one of Italy's most beautiful squares.
- Palazzo dei Priori, built in 1246.
- Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. It was enlarged in the 13th century after an earthquake. 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. In the nearby chapel, dedicate to the Very Holy Name of Jesus, is a table with Christ's monogram, allegedly painted by Bernardine of Siena. The rectangular bell tower is from 1493.
- Medicean Fortress (Maschio), now a penitentiary.
- Guarnacci Etruscan Museum, with thousands of funeral urns dating back to the Hellenistic and Archaic periods.
- The Etruscan walls, including the well-preserved Porta dell'Arco (3rd-2dn centuries BC) and Porta Diana gates.
Outside the city, in direction of Lajatico, is the Medici Villa di Spedaletto. Also in the neighborhood, in the Valle Bona area, are excavations of Etruscan tombs.
Volterra in popular fiction
- Volterra is an important location in Stephenie Meyer's bestselling Twilight series. In the books, Volterra is home to the Volturi, a powerful coven of vampires. Two weeks of shooting for the film adaptation of the second book, New Moon, will take place in Volterra beginning in May 2009.
- Volterra is the site of Stendhal's famously disastrous encounter in 1819 with his beloved Matilde Dembowski: she recognised him there, despite his disguise of new clothes and green glasses, and was furious. This is the central incident in his book On Love.
- Volterra is mentioned repeatedly in British author Dudley Pope's Captain Nicholas Ramage historical nautical series. Gianna, the Marchesa of Volterra and the fictional ruler of the area, features in the first 12 books of the 16-book series. The books chart the progress and career of Ramage during the Napoleonic wars of the late 18th and early 19th century, providing readers with well-scripted articulate details of life aboard sailing vessels and conditions at sea of that time.
Twin cities
External links
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