Volterra facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Volterra
Comune
Città di Volterra
Country	Italy
Region	Tuscany
Province	Pisa (PI)
Frazioni	Mazzolla, Montemiccioli, Saline di Volterra, Villamagna
Area
• Total	252 km2 (97 sq mi)
Elevation	531 m (1,742 ft)
Population  (1 January 2016)
• Total	10,519
• Density	41.74/km2 (108.11/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Volterrani
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	56048
Dialing code	0588
Patron saint	St. Justus and Clement
Saint day	June 5

Aerial panorama of Volterra from above. June 2024

Volterra from above. June 2024.

Volterra (Italian pronunciation: [volˈtɛrra]; Latin: Volaterrae) is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods.

History

Frescoes in the Church of San Francesco

The Roman theatre

Volterra, known to the ancient Etruscans as Velathri or Vlathri and to the Romans as Volaterrae, is a town and comune in the Tuscany region of Italy. The town was a Bronze Age settlement of the Proto-Villanovan culture, and an important Etruscan center (Velàthre, Velathri or Felathri in Etruscan, Volaterrae in Latin language), one of the "twelve cities" of the Etruscan League.

The site is believed to have been continuously inhabited as a city since at least the end of the 8th century BC. It became a municipium allied to Rome at the end of the 3rd century BC. 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 and the discovery of local alum deposits, Volterra became a place of interest of the Republic of Florence, whose forces conquered Volterra. Florentine rule was not always popular, and opposition occasionally broke into rebellion. These rebellions were put down by Florence.

When the Republic of Florence fell in 1530, Volterra came under the control of the Medici family and later followed the history of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. In 1472, during the war between Volterra and Florence in the called Allumiere war which finished with the sacking of Volterra by the Duke of Montefeltro and his army, it caused the emigration of many wealthy families and the appropiation of their goods.

Climate

Culture

The main events that take place during the year in Volterra are

• Volterra gusto
• Volterra arte
• Volterra teatro

Main sights

• Roman Theatre of Volterra, 1st century BC, excavated in the 1950s
• Roman Amphitheater discovered in 2015 and has been excavated over the succeeding years
• Piazza dei Priori, the main square, a fine example of medieval Tuscan town squares
• Palazzo dei Priori: town hall on main piazza, begun in 1208 and finished in 1257
• Pinacoteca e museo civico di Volterra: Art Museum housed in Palazzo Minucci-Solaini. Founded in 1905, the gallery consists mostly of works by Tuscan artists from 14th to 17th centuries. Includes a Deposition by Rosso Fiorentino.
• Etruscan Acropolis and Roman Cistern. The acropolis on the citadel dates to the 8th century B.C., while the cistern is from the 1st century B.C.
• Volterra Cathedral. 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, dedicated to the Most Holy Name of Jesus, is a table with Christ's monogram, allegedly painted by Bernardino of Siena. The rectangular bell tower is from 1493.
• Volterra Baptistery or Baptistery of San Giovanni, built in the second half of the 13th century.
• Fortezza Medicea (Medicean Fortress), built in the 1470s, now a prison housing the noted restaurant, Fortezza Medicea restaurant.
• Guarnacci Etruscan Museum, with thousands of funeral urns dating back to the Hellenistic and Archaic periods. Main attractions are the bronze statuette "Ombra della sera" (lit. "Shadow of the Evening"), and the sculpted effigy, "Urna degli Sposi" (lit. "Urn of the Spouses") of an Etruscan couple in terra cotta.
• The Etruscan Walls of Volterra [it], including the well-preserved Porta all'Arco [it] (3rd-2nd centuries BC), and Porta Diana [it] gates.
• The Medici Villa di Spedaletto [it], outside the city, in direction of Lajatico
• There are excavations of Etruscan tombs in the Valle Bona area.
• Sant'Alessandro, Romanesque Roman Catholic church.
• Volterra Psychiatric Hospital, founded in 1888. Closed in 1978, it was reopened for public and will be once more used for psychiatric purposes.
• Palazzo Inghirami, Volterra

Transport

Volterra has a station on the Cecina-Volterra Railway [it], called "Volterra Saline – Pomarance" due to its position, in the frazione of Saline di Volterra.

Notable people

• Persius, (34–62), the Roman satirist of Etruscan stock
• Pope Linus, who, according to the Liber Pontificalis, was born in Volterra, and was the successor to Peter.
• Lucius Petronius Taurus Volusianus, consul with the Emperor Gallienus in AD 261 and urban prefect in AD 267–268
• Meshullam da Volterra, (d. 1508), an Italian-Jewish businessman who traveled to the Land of Israel and surrounding Jewish communities. His works provide concise and important details about the nature and conditions of Ottoman Jewry.
• Daniele da Volterra, (1509–1566), Mannerist painter
• The poet Jacopo da Leona was a judge at Volterra in the 13th century.
• The Maffei family of Volterra produced the apostolic Secretary Gherardo Maffei and his three sons: the eldest Antonio Maffei, who was one of the assassins in the Pazzi Conspiracy against the Medici in 1478; second the humanist Raffaello Maffei called "Volterrano" who also served in the Curia; and youngest Mario Maffei, who was also a scholar and followed his father in the curia.
• Giuseppe Bessi (1857–1922), sculptor
• Emilio Fiaschi (1858–1941), sculptor

Menelaus and Meriones lifting Patroclus' corpse on a cart while Odysseus looks on; alabaster urn, Etruscan artwork from Volterra, 2nd century BC

Twin cities

Volterra is twinned with:

• Mende, France
• Wunsiedel, Germany
• Sandomierz, Poland

See also

In Spanish: Volterra para niños