By Lisa T. Bergren

In the name of novel research, we’re on the trail of the Etruscans (a people who inhabited Italy in the 2nd-5th centuries B.C.) and so Tim and I head down to south and west to  Pitigliano. There is a huge Etruscan museum in Chiusi that looks fab—just 40 minutes away—but I’m wanting to stay in the Tuscany vacation mindset, and Chiusi is pretty modern. So we opt for a smaller venue, farther away.

Our 2.5 hour drive is lovely out of the Val d’Orcia and we wind through the country roads that eventually meet up with larger highways that lead us southward, to Massa Maritima. The landscape in this area reminds us much more of Southern California, with oak-heavy forests and more arid, coastal formations. But then we enter valleys that are full of tufo, the easily excavated, porous, volcanic stone, and clifftop villages that are riddled with caves below. The first we see is Sorano, and we’re shocked by the unique, gray tufo stone buildings—so different from the warm, golden earth of the rest of Tuscany—that cling to the very edge of the sheer cliffs, making the houses themselves appear taller.

We wind our way up and through the city, heading toward Pitigliano. There is an “Etruscan Tour loop” detailed in our DK Tuscany guide book (Grosseto; Talamone; Marsilana; Pitigliano; Sovana; Saturnia; Roselle), but we’ve started too late to do it all. We’ll be content with a visit to Pitigliano and Saturnia, and I want to explore the biggest Etruscan tombs nearby.

Pitigliano

By the time we reach Pitigliano and eat our picnic lunch, then locate the small Etruscan museum, it’s 1:00, and the lone docent is on her lunch break. We kill time by walking the streets of Pitigliano, known for it’s Jewish neighborhood (“Little Jerusalem”—the people of Pitigliano once sheltered Jews fleeing the Nazis), and stumble upon an excavation in the center of town that shows some of the caves that were dug by merchants dealing in leather goods and wine. Unfortunately, all the signs are in Italian, so we can only glean a bit from it.

The highlight of this Etruscan/Roman/medieval town is toward the entrance and past the Orsini Palace, where you can see waterfalls cascading into the rich, green valley below and feeding the Meleta and Lente Rivers, which carved out this promontory in prehistoric times. Schoolchildren mob the wall, obviously on a field trip, but then eventually move away. Tim and I grab our shots and then go to consult an ancient sun dial clock, clinging to the side of a palazzo right on the main square to check the time.

We sit in the Orsini courtyard, awaiting our docent. When she bustles back, smiling and nodding her apologies for being a few minutes late, we gain entrance and leisurely stroll through the exhibits of fantastic pottery and shards. Through a window we can see the workplace of preservationists and restorers, a backlog of unwashed pots awaiting them in a tidy line that will keep them busy for years to come.

Etruscan Tombs

We’re feeling hurried now, conscious that daylight is quickly escaping us, and we still want to tour the tombs and reach Saturnia (and possibly get back to our Tuscan villa) before nightfall. We reach the tombs just west of Sovana quickly, though, park beside a tour bus and a camper, and pay our entry fee at an outdoor stand. This is the most complete set of Necropoli Etrusca around, right along the Lente River (Poggio di Sopra Ripa; open Mar-Nov), and includes the famous Ildebranda Tomb.

Because they were carved from the soft tufa, funerary artwork is pretty degraded—but you can still see the partial head of a woman, the body of a lion and columns, here and there. The best part are two causeways carved from the cliff, presumably used for entrance and exit to the ancient tombs. If you go, be sure to walk them (center of complex and up to the right as you enter—you can do a loop.)

Saturnia

We move on toward Saturnia, climbing again for a time over winding, mountain roads, and glimpsing the glimmering sea at the top. But then we descend and pass the ancient Roman town of Saturnia, solely interested in her hot springs. We’ve seen the pics—and we want a piece of her cascading, warm pools. We miss the road that leads to it—it’s not very clearly marked—and circle back when we hit the luxurious spa. Loads of campers and traffic give us the hint about where it might be. We park and change in our car (everyone does) and then walk down the dirt road to the pools. The water is about 95-100 degrees and people sit under thundering falls, pounding their necks and backs, or down in one of the shallow pools, or even down below in the river, warmed by the hot springs.

Warmed and sulphurated (not as rotten egg smelling as some), we peel off our wet clothes in our car and make the trek back to our villa. Up north, the evening air is chilly, but we drag out our wool blankets, huddle in our garden chairs, and catch the last of the sunset, while toasting the Etruscans who first loved this land.

Have you been to Pitigliano or Saturnia or in this region? Please comment below!

SEE OUR OTHER FIVE POSTS IN THIS SERIES:

READ PART 1: Umbria and Orvieto

READ PART 2: Monticchiello

READ PART 3: Montalcino

READ PART 4: Pitigliano and Saturnia

READ PART 5: Pienza

READ PART 6: Montepulciano