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The ways of the Etruscans

The ways of the Etruscans

Arezzo, Cortona and Chiusi, three of the twelve Etruscan lucumonies, the city states that controlled ancient Etruria, each independent from the other but federated in a league.
A fascinating itinerary that touches the three cities allows you to take a plunge into the past, to discover one of the most fascinating and enigmatic peoples of antiquity.

The main archaeological remains of Etruscan Arezzo are housed in the “Gaio Cilnio Mecenate” National Archaeological Museum. The rich necropolis of Poggio del Sole is home to the splendid VI century B.C. trunk earrings and those featuring a feline protome from the V century B.C. A pediment sima with high relief combat scenes connected to a V century B.C. temple comes from Piazza San Jacopo. The sanctuary area of Castelsecco contains an altar and the terracotta slabs that covered the pulpitum of the theatre connected to the main temple, an inscription on a travertine slab dedicated to Tinia, the Jupiter of the Etruscans, and clay votive offerings with swaddled infants dedicated to Uni, the Roman Juno Lucina.

The museum also exhibits a rare coin, the bronze Quincussis from the III century B.C., found in the Stroppiello and Sitorni area, some small bronzes from the Stipe of via Fonte Veneziana, originally made up of about 180 objects dating back to the VI century B.C., and a faithful copy of the Aratore of Arezzo from the last quarter of the V century B.C., a small bronze group found in via delle Gagliarde. The original is in the Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia in Rome.

On 15 November 1553, during excavation work for the construction of the bastion of Porta San Lorentino, the Chimera of Arezzo from the IV century BC, the most famous Etruscan bronze in the world, was found. The original is in the Archaeological Museum in Florence, while copies are reproduced under Porta San Lorentino, in Piazza della Repubblica and in the fountains of the railway station gardens.

The remains of Etruscan Arezzo are visible in the excavations in Piazza San Niccolò and along Piaggia San Bartolomeo in the historical centre. On the south-eastern outskirts is the natural archaeological park of Castelsecco with the remains of the out-of-town sanctuary dating back to the II century B.C., of which the curvilinear wall can be seen.

Travelling along the Via Umbro Casentinese we stop in Val di Chiana in Arezzo at Castiglion Fiorentino, a strategic Etruscan oppidum on the border of the ancient lucumonia of Arezzo, to visit the Archaeological Museum and admire the remains of the temple built between the V and IV centuries BC.

Before climbing to the upper part of Cortona, a stop in its widespread Archaeological Park is essential. It has eleven sites and presents exceptional examples of aristocratic tombs such as the Tumuli del Sodo from the VI century BC and the Tanella Angori and Tanella Pitagora from the II century BC. The mighty city walls of Cortona date back to the IV century B.C., much of which served as the basis for the Roman and medieval city walls. The MAEC – Museo dell’Accademia Etrusca e della Città di Cortona (Museum of the Etruscan Academy and the City of Cortona), a treasure chest of inestimable value whose collections have been formed since 1727 thanks to the Accademia Etrusca, houses two priceless pieces such as the “Etruscan Chandelier” from the IV century B.C. and the “Tabula Cortonensis”, a bronze plate from the II century B.C. with a long inscription in Etruscan.

After entering Umbria and passing by Lake Trasimeno, we return to Tuscany to reach Chiusi in the Sienese Val di Chiana. Of great value is the production in the V century B.C. of fetid stone sculptures and in the IV century B.C. of alabaster cinerary urns, which can be admired in the Museo Nazionale Etrusco (National Etruscan Museum). All that remains of Chiusi’s Etruscan glories are parts of the city walls, stupendous painted tombs such as the V century BC “Tomb of the Monkey” and the VI century BC “Tomb of the Hill”, not to mention the so-called “Labyrinth of Porsenna”, a spectacular walkable system of tunnels from the V century BC for water supply, connected to the surface by wells.