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Volterra is situated in the province of Pisa and lies between
the valley of Era and Cecina. Built on a hilly pliocene ridge
545 metres a.s.l. surrounded by two defensive walls, one
Etruscan and the other Medieval, it is one of the most
important centres of Tuscany, for its monuments which
testify 3,000 years of civilisation and for its traditional
craftsmanship in alabaster whose products are one of Italy's
leading crafts.
Volterra is not yet touched by the stress of contemporary life and visitors who
come to Volterra have the immediate impression of stepping into the past, of
being in a particular place with its narrow Medieval streets and the enigma of
its Etruscan origins.
Volterra is prevalently Medieval and yet cherishes abundant
evidence of the Etruscan period:
the Porta all'Arco (the Etruscan
gate) which date from the 4th century B.C., the Acropolis,
the defensive walls which are still visible in parts of the
town.
The Roman period is attested
by the important remains of the Teatro
di Vallebona which date back to the Augustan period,
the Baths and an enormous rectangular
water cistern.
The Middle Ages are not only visible in its urban structure
but in its buildings too, its house-towers and churches:
the Palazzo dei Priori, a 13th century building, the
Palazzo Pretorio, with its crenellated Tower
of the Little Pig, the pair of towers
of Buonparenti and Bonaguidi family, the house-towers
of Toscano family, the Cathedral (12th
century), the Baptistry (13th
century) streaked with Volterran stone, the conventual Church
of San Francesco with its adjacent chapel of the Croce di
Giorno, the Church of San Michele) and of San
Alessandro.
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