We had read about the recent restoration of the Fonti dell’Abbondanza in Massa Marittima which had uncovered a fresco of a “fertility tree” with male penises hanging from its branches. Women converse beneath its foliage; two are fighting over one of the unusual “fruits”, while another chases the crows that are about to eat them. Seemingly this was an exceptionally rare find in Italy: most representations of this theme are more circumspect, depicting men and women hanging from the branches. We had looked for the fountain before but were unsuccessful so we were determined today to find it. We did - it is behind a glass window. I suspect that graffiti might have been feared!
From Massa Marittima we took the twisting road to Volterra which offers constantly changing views of the wild scenery of the metal-producing hills. It is a beautiful drive - for the passenger! Volterra, like a lot of Etruscan cities, is situated on a high plateau. There are some fantastic views from it but a photo would not do them justice
The buildings are grey mainly and it is really old.
Just inside the Palazzo dei Priori considered the oldest town hall in Tuscany.
We descended steeply to the Arco Etrusco which is in fact part Roman. Only the columns and the severely weathered basalt heads, representing Etruscan gods date to the 6th century BC. The features of each head are now barely visible.
Alabaster is significant in Volterra as it is mined locally. Nearly every second shop sells alabaster itself or statues etc carved from alabaster. There were some beautiful pieces but they were very expensive.
Just outside the city walls is the ancient Roman theatre, dating to the first century BC. As we had left it late to get to Volterra our return journey ended in the dark over extremely twisty roads. I was glad I wasn’t driving!
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