Today was our day to head to our guide's favorite Tuscan hill town, Volterra. Despite being known by the younger generation as a setting for part of the Twilight book series, Volterra is a hill town that dates back to the time of the Etruscans.
While in Volterra, we were able to see an old Etruscan arch, Porta all'Arco. This arch has a very important part in the more recent history of Volterra as well. On June 30, 1944 the Nazis planned to blow up the arch in order to prevent the Allied Forces from entering Volterra. The townspeople went to work to fill the arch with rocks in order to prevent the destruction of the arch. They were able to successfully fill the arch and it still stands to this day. After the arch and walk through town, we saw the ruins of an old Roman theater before visiting Alab'Arte, an alabaster workshop. We learned all about the craft of working with Alabaster and were able to see a few of the creations from the workshop. I really wanted to buy my mom the goat (we used to raise them), but didn't think it would fit in my carry-on suitcase! Gotta pack light! (He was about 2 feet tall.) We then had some free time for lunch and shopping. This typically would have been a great time for gelato, but I was too full from the great lunch. Click the pictures below to enlarge. |