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I am getting lazy there...
I went to Tuscania two weeks ago and have not yet plagued you guys wih the pictures.
First of all, despite its name, Tuscania is NOT in Tuscany but to the north of Rome, in the area of Viterbo.
This small city used to be an important centre at the time of the Etruscan, as evidenced by the sarcophagi left laying around the place...
It has the reputation of having been founded by no other than Ascanius (Aenea's son, in case you haven't quite your Aeneid in mind).
Traces of Etruscan reign is only found in the numerous necropolises and museums, alas, while classical Roman era can be seen from a few artefacts, such as the fountain of the "Sette Cannelle" (seven spouts):
The city was one of the first bishopric seats in catholic Italy and soon was englobed in the Papal estates. which probably goes a long way into explaining the presence of two large convents (that of the Clarisse, now used in parts to host the local National Museum, and that of the Franciscans).
We had a wander around in the city, enjoying its sights:
And then we had a lovely lunch at Alfreda's...
And then coffee on the main square, where Cesare got seduced by a black kitten.
We walked about some more:
And we arrived at the lovely church of Santa Maria della Rosa which was opened (normally churches close for extended lunch period):
Then we went to visit the Etruscan Museum,which is located in an ancient convent.
They have a lovely collection of sarcophagi in stone and in terracotta:
Coming out of the exhibition rooms, I noticed that some of the frescoes around the cloister looked like some whoddunits:
While I loved this fragment, wondering how its presence could be explained in a convent and what was the rest of the story:
Because there is always a story...
More pictures of Tuscania in the relevant Flickr set.
I went to Tuscania two weeks ago and have not yet plagued you guys wih the pictures.
First of all, despite its name, Tuscania is NOT in Tuscany but to the north of Rome, in the area of Viterbo.
This small city used to be an important centre at the time of the Etruscan, as evidenced by the sarcophagi left laying around the place...
It has the reputation of having been founded by no other than Ascanius (Aenea's son, in case you haven't quite your Aeneid in mind).
Traces of Etruscan reign is only found in the numerous necropolises and museums, alas, while classical Roman era can be seen from a few artefacts, such as the fountain of the "Sette Cannelle" (seven spouts):
The city was one of the first bishopric seats in catholic Italy and soon was englobed in the Papal estates. which probably goes a long way into explaining the presence of two large convents (that of the Clarisse, now used in parts to host the local National Museum, and that of the Franciscans).
We had a wander around in the city, enjoying its sights:
And then we had a lovely lunch at Alfreda's...
And then coffee on the main square, where Cesare got seduced by a black kitten.
We walked about some more:
And we arrived at the lovely church of Santa Maria della Rosa which was opened (normally churches close for extended lunch period):
Then we went to visit the Etruscan Museum,which is located in an ancient convent.
They have a lovely collection of sarcophagi in stone and in terracotta:
Coming out of the exhibition rooms, I noticed that some of the frescoes around the cloister looked like some whoddunits:
While I loved this fragment, wondering how its presence could be explained in a convent and what was the rest of the story:
Because there is always a story...
More pictures of Tuscania in the relevant Flickr set.
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