Melody & Ernie's Weekend Adventure -- Volterra

Entering Volterra from the West, Porta San Francesco

Volterra's new found fame comes from it being the home of the "Volturi" in the second installment of the "Twilight" series, "New Moon." Trust me, I had to read up on it, not that Melody of I actually knew anything about the series. I chose it because it has a painting in its painting gallery that I studied in Art History. Honestly.

Volterra has been inhabited since Etruscan times and was an important Etruscan city. One entrance into the city, and still used, is a remaining Etruscan arch. The worn stones are some 2,500 years old. The rounded heads are the remnants of the 1st century BC and the more "modern" stones are from the 13th century.

As you continue on from the Porta Francesco entrance, you come to a fork in the road, but right in front of you is that amazingly beautiful and cute place of worship. It's one room and it's like a "drop in and pray" kind of place.

Here it is at night (courtesy of Melody). Apparently, this fork in the road/corner church is mentioned in "New Moon."

The Volterra Baptistry was constructed in the same era as many early Christian baptistries in Italy. It's octagonal and has the same striped marble as the one in Florence.

Ok now people, you should be able to name the style of the Volterra Duomo.

Romanesque! Inside, here's the pulpit with a scene of the Last Supper in which Judas is underneath the table.

In medieval times, each of these hill towns of Central Italy was a city state. This is Volterra's city hall (the tower was featured in "New Moon" I gathered) and was copied by Florence, which has a similar looking Palazzo Vecchio in it's main square.

Right here, carved into the front of the city hall, is a "metric" which was used to measure things during market days.

This tower in town has no door or stairway to the second/third floors. According to legend, you got up by having a rope swing dropped down and climbing up. The windows are narrow so anyone wearing armor (i.e. enemy) couldn't fit through.

Volterra was also a Roman city at one point. Here's the theater, which was only uncovered in the 1950's.

At some point, the city dwellers started dismantling the theater to construct baths.

This western part of Tuscany is known for it's marble. Massa-Carrara is famous for it's pure white marble, whereas here in Volterra, alabaster is its forte.

Here's the painting I came to see. Rosso Fiorentino's "Deposition of Christ", which is a classic example of Mannerist style painting. Just after the High Renaissance, painters took things over the top. It's ostentatious, the painter doesn't pay as much attention to drapery and instead has sharp corners. There is little attention paid to the depth and perspective. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the painting is some 18-20 feet tall.

This is a painting by Dominic Ghirlandaio, the teacher of Michelangelo.

One thing that Melody and I found was this milk dispensing machine right in town. You bring your bottle, put in some Euro coins and get your milk. Alas, we didn't have any container with us to try it.

The drive through the countryside was phenomenal. Every corner was a new and amazing site that put a smile on our faces. Pictures don't do the scenery justice, you'll just have to come and see for yourselves.

So, I promised a story as to why the world is telling me that I shouldn't be driving her in Italy without my license. First, while trying to navigate from Pitigliano to Volterra, Melody tried to direct me away from going through the city of Siena. But, alas, due to the confusing signage, all of a sudden we're inside the Siena walls. We loop around once but end up in the same place. So we turn a different way and the all of a sudden, we're driving on one of those pedestrian only streets. Trying to get out of it, lo and behold, all of a sudden I'm in the piazza with the Duomo. Our car is one of only 10 cars on the whole piazza. We get out of there as soon as possible. Hopefully, our license plate didn't get photographed and I'll get a ticket in the mail sometime later. Then, less than an hour later, we get stopped by the Carabinieri who are redirecting traffic due to a new rotary. Here we are chatting it up trying to get directions, but hoping he doesn't ask for any documentation. That was a close call. Then, on the way back from Volterra, it's raining and the car spins out and lands in a mud ditch. Our great luck stays with us and we are able to drive out without any damage to us or the car. I'll wait until I have my license to drive again.

We stopped by the town of Montalcino on the way back and found a festival and got the "Menu Completto"

Many breads with spreads, soup for me1, papadrelle with boar for Melody. Grilled meats, white beans and wine and water. YUM