An Archaeological Study Tour

Etruscan Italy
October 8 - 21, 2007
Led by Professor Larissa Bonfante


Murlo, Poggio Civitate, on a high plateau near Siena, excavated by an American team from Bryn Mawr in the 1960s, revolutionized scholars' ideas about the early architecture and sculpture of the Etruscans. It featured large-scale buildings of the seventh-century Orientalizing period, and a large sanctuary of the early sixth century, decorated with life-size statues of Etruscan "ancestors." A small but important museum houses sculpture, pottery, and remains of the kilns and furnaces used in the craftsman's quarters. The Etruscan presence in central Italy can be traced archaeologically to circa 1000 BC. There was never an Etruscan Empire; there was, however, an Etruscan people who shared a language, religion, customs and mode of dress which made them uniquely different from other peoples of the region. They brought writing and other aspects of "civilization" to the people of Italy and Europe and had lively commercial, cultural and political relations with the Greeks, Phoenicians and Latins. This tour will put us in contact with what we know of the Etruscans: the hill sites selected for their cities, their tombs, and in the museums, the beautiful objects they used in their lifetimes and took to their graves. The fine wines and cuisine of Tuscany and Umbria as well as the charming medieval hill towns of Perugia and Orvieto, and the ever-exciting cities of Florence and Rome, will enhance our exploration of Etruria.

Monday, October 8: ROME: Arrival in Rome this morning from various gateway cities. Archaeological Tours will assist tour members in making their flight arrangements. The next two nights will be spent at the centrally located Hotel Mercure Delta. The tour begins this evening with an introductory lecture by Professor Bonfante, followed by dinner.
Meals: Dinner

Tuesday, October 9: ROME: We will spend the morning at the Vatican Museums, visiting the Etruscan collection together, and the remainder of the morning will be free for independent exploration of the museums’ extensive collections. After a break midday for lunch on our own in the museum café, we will visit Villa Giulia, housing one of the world’s greatest collections of Etruscan art, most of which was excavated from the sites we will see during our tour.

Meals: Breakfast & dinner

Wednesday, October 10: TARQUINIA: We leave Rome and drive west to Cerveteri (ancient Caere). It is here at the southern tip of the area once known as Etruria that we begin our journey through the lives and afterlives of the enigmatic Etruscan people. We will study the remarkable tombs, dating from the 7th to 3rd centuries BC, faithfully built to resemble the actual houses of their owners. Our day ends at the Tarquinia Museum, which houses among its treasures the famed “Cavalli Alati” (winged horses) from a 4th century BC temple. We will overnight nearby at the seaside Hotel Tarconte.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Thursday, October 11: VOLTERRA: Our day begins at the necropolis of Tarquinia, where glimpses of the sea are visible between the thousands of tombs. The Tarquinian necropoli are noted for their wonderful wall paintings. Especially notable are the colorful friezes depicting daily life, as well as the dancing, feasting and other activities that the Etruscans hoped to enjoy in the afterlife. We leave southern Etruria behind and venture into the verdant countryside that marks the province of Tuscany. Touring includes the sites of Vulci, a powerful Etruscan city until its conquest by the Romans in 280 BC, and Murlo, Poggio Civitate, on a high plateau near Siena, excavated by an American team from Bryn Mawr in the 1960s, which revolutionized scholars’ ideas about the early architecture and sculpture of the Etruscans. It features large-scale buildings of the seventh-century Orientalizing period, and a large sanctuary of the early sixth century decorated with life-size statues of Etruscan “ancestors.” A small but important museum houses sculpture, pottery and remains of the kilns and furnaces used in the craftsmen’s quarters. We end this exciting day at the Hotel San Lino in Volterra.
Meals: breakfas, lunch daily & dinner

Friday, October 12: VOLTERRA: Today’s excursion will be to ancient Volterra, renowned since Etruscan times for its alabaster workshop and its 4th century BC walls and archway. We will study the rich documentation of Etruscan life and mythology in the Guarnacci Museum. The afternoon will be at leisure to explore Volterra’s enticing shops and stroll along its medieval streets and atmospheric squares bordered by ancient facades built with yellow-grey stone.

Meals: Breakfast & lunch

Saturday, October 13: BOLOGNA: Touring begins at Marzabotto, where near the wide bed of the Reno, a large Etruscan settlement was founded at the end of the 6th century BC. We can still visit the remains of the acropolis known as “the terrace of the temples,” one of the most important monuments left by the Etruscans. We then continue to Bologna to visit the Museo Civico, housing one of Italy’s most important archaeological collections of Etruscan, Roman and Egyptian artifacts. Our hotel, Al Cappello Rosso Hotel, is located in the historical center of Bologna.
Meals: Breakfast & lunch

Sunday, October 14: BOLOGNA: Touring begins at the Ceramic Museum in Faenza, with its important display on pottery making, and the new museum in Verucchio, near Rimini, built to house the remarkable finds of jewelry, bronze work, textiles and wooden furniture from the 8th-century necropolis. We return to Bologna for the night.

Meals: Breakfast & lunch

Monday, October 15: FLORENCE: We continue to Florence. As we approach this exquisite city, we will catch our first glimpse of the magnificent dome of the Cathedral, which dominates the city’s skyline of red rooftops. The remainder of the morning and early afternoon will be at leisure. In the late afternoon we will visit the Archaeological Museum’s collection of Etruscan art, including the famed “Chimaera” (c. 400-350 BC). Plaza Lucchesi Hotel.
Meals: Breakfast

Tuesday, October 16: FLORENCE: After a morning walking tour of the city’s important sites and a visit to the Cathedral, touring continues at the temple, museum and small amphitheater in Fiesole, the northern tip of ancient Etruria.
Meals: Breakfast

Wednesday, October 17: PERUGIA: Leaving Florence behind, we turn to the south and drive through the vineyards of Tuscany to the hill town of Cortona, whose Etruscan walls have been replaced by medieval ramparts and a massive citadel. The Museo dell’Accademia Etrusca houses an important early collection of Etruscan art. Our drive continues through Tuscan hills studded with olive groves and into the gentle pastures of Umbria to its picturesque medieval capital, Perugia. Our walking tour will include the Archaeological Museum, the Prior’ Palace, Exchange Building and the “Rocca Paolina,” a curious excavation of 15th-century houses beneath the city. We will spend the night in the centrally located Locanda della Posta.
Meals: Breakfast & dinner

Thursday, October 18: ORVIETO: The Etruscan city of Chiusi will be our first stop today, visiting its fine museum and the painted tombs at Poggio Renzo. The approach to Orvieto, once an important Etruscan urban center, is one of the loveliest in Italy as the city rises from a sheer tufa plateau and is dominated by the glittering facade of its Cathedral. Visits will be made to the necropolis (hewn of the same tufa rock that is the foundation of many of the hill towns), the town and the Cathedral, famed for its fresco series of the Apocalypse by Luca Signorelli. Hotel Maitani.
Meals: Breakfast &, lunch

Friday, October 19: ORVIETO: From Orvieto we drive to the tiny town of Sovrana to see the “Ildebranda Tomb,” one of the most significant examples of Etruscan rock-cut tomb architecture of the Hellenistic period. After visiting the ongoing excavations at Barbarano Romano, we return to Orvieto for an afternoon at leisure before our farewell dinner at one of Orvieto’s fine restaurants.

Meals: Breakfast & dinner

Saturday, Sunday, October 20 & 21: ROME: En route to Rome, we stop to see the town of Veii, once an important Etruscan artistic center that was famed for its terra-cotta sculptures. This last site will mark the end of the full circle we have traveled in Etruria. We drive once more over the Tiber into Rome. Sunday independent departures from Rome. Hotel Mercure Delta Colosseo.
Meals: Breakfast daily