Archaeological itineraries

Among archaeological parks and museums that through their treasures tell a story of two thousand years, which goes from the Etruscans to the Middle Ages passing through the Romans, to be discovered walking between the hinterland and the sea.

Vetulonia:
Vetulonia is undoubtedly one of the best known and most renowned places for archaeological tourism, with its vast necropolis and the Etruscan city. The latter, much larger than the current city, was surrounded by a circle of walls. Further downstream, outside the walls and far from the present town, there is the monumental necropolis, which stretches out between the Mediterranean scrub and the cultivated fields.
The Isidoro Falchi Archaeological Museum in the center of the town is certainly worth a visit, divided into seven rooms that tell the story of the city and the territory.

Vetulonia was one of the richest and most renowned cities in all of Etruria. Thanks to the control of the mining basin of the Metalliferous Hills, its founders became among the most capable metallurgists of the time and in particular experts and renowned connoisseurs of goldsmith production, of which many examples are preserved today inside the local Museum.

Roselle:

The ancient city of Roselle was one of the most important Etruscan cities. It was founded by the Etruscans, before the seventh century. BC. Its remains are located on the shores of the now disappeared Lake Prile, a marine lake that stretched for about ninety square kilometres on the Grosseto plain and of which today only a small part remains whithin the Diaccia Botrona Nature Reserve. Among the most admirable works of the entire archaeological site of Roselle are the splendid cyclopean walls, the Etruscan amphitheater, the Basilica dei Bassi, the domus of the mosaics and the remains of the ancient road.
The excavations allow you to see large sections of the city wall, the remains of the Roman city and, on a hill, parts of a small amphitheater and spa facilities.

Baratti and Populonia:

The Archaeological Park of Baratti and Populonia is part the Val di Cornia Parks system. The most beautiful visit is undoubtedly that of the Via dei Principi (necropolis of San Cerbone and del Casone), with the monumental tombs of the Carri, of the Funeral Beds, of the Flabelli, of the Goldsmiths, and of the Bronzetto di Offerente. The Via del Ferro leading to the industrial buildings and the Poggio della Porcareccia necropolis. The Via delle Cave which, through the woods, reaches the necropolis of the Caves, where the tombs were dug in the front of a quarry from which the material for the construction of the city walls was drawn.
The Archaeological Museum of the territory of Populonia is in Piombino, in the old Citadel.
Not to forget, two important gifts from the sea: the Pozzino wreck, renamed the “perfume wreck” because part of the load was made up of hundreds of wooden containers full of aromatic substances, and the famous Baratti’s Amphora, a 4th century masterpiece after Christ, probably from Antioch of Syria. Casually fished with an anchor from a boat, in 1968, in the sea between the Gulf of Baratti and San Vincenzo. As a refined particularity it is covered on the body and neck by 132 medallions with relief figures, seemingly connected to the myth of Paris.

Sovana:
The Etruscan Necropolis of Sovana is an exceptional heritage left to us by the Etruscan people. A multitude of tombs, from the simplest to real monuments excavated in the tuff, dating back to the period between the 7th and the 1st century BC. C., they develop on the hilly slopes all around the modern country. The part that can be visited today is located west of the town, along the road that leads to San Martino sul Fiora, and is also reached by the spectacular Vie Cave that connects it to the other necropolises in the area, in the Tufo Archaeological Park. .
The dulcet countryside around is scattered with Etruscan tombs and sunken roads, along with sublime villages, Sorano and Pitigliano.