DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.786#0172
] 56 VOLTERBA.—Thb City. [chap, jo.
There are portions of the wall which are of no difficult
access: such as the fine fragments under the church of
Santa Chiara; those also at Le Baize di San Griusto, whither
you may drive in a carriage; the thick walls helow the
Seminario, which are comparatively near at hand: and
from these a sufficient idea may be formed of the massive-
ness and grandeur of the walls of Volterra. The Portone
also is of easy access; and it had better be taken in the
way to the Grotta de' Marmini. With the Plan of the
city in his hand, the visitor will have no difficulty in
finding the most remarkable portions of the ancient forti-
fications.
The necropolis of Volterra, as usual, surrounded the
town; but from the nature of the ground, the slopes
beneath the walls to the north were particularly selected
for burial. Here, for some centuries past, numerous tombs
have been opened, from which the Museum of the town, as
well as other collections, public and private, in various
parts of Europe, have been stored with antiquarian wealth.
From the multitude of sepulchres, the spot received the
name of Campo Nero—"Black Field2"—a name now
almost obsolete. But, though hundreds—nay, thousands—
of tombs have been opened, what remains to satisfy the
curiosity of the visitor 1 One mean sepulchre alone. All
the rest have been covered in as soon as rifled ; the usual
excuse being—"per non damnificar il podere." Even the
tomb of the Csecinae, that family so illustrious in ancient
times, has been refilled with earth, lest the produce of a
square yard or two of soil should be lost to the owner; and
its site is now forgotten. " 0 optimi cives Volaterrani /"
Are ye deserving of the commendation Cicero bestowed
on your ancestors,3 when ye set so little store on the
monuments of those very forefathers which Fortune has
■ Gori, Mus. Etrus. III. p. 93. » Cicero, pro Domo sua, XXX.
There are portions of the wall which are of no difficult
access: such as the fine fragments under the church of
Santa Chiara; those also at Le Baize di San Griusto, whither
you may drive in a carriage; the thick walls helow the
Seminario, which are comparatively near at hand: and
from these a sufficient idea may be formed of the massive-
ness and grandeur of the walls of Volterra. The Portone
also is of easy access; and it had better be taken in the
way to the Grotta de' Marmini. With the Plan of the
city in his hand, the visitor will have no difficulty in
finding the most remarkable portions of the ancient forti-
fications.
The necropolis of Volterra, as usual, surrounded the
town; but from the nature of the ground, the slopes
beneath the walls to the north were particularly selected
for burial. Here, for some centuries past, numerous tombs
have been opened, from which the Museum of the town, as
well as other collections, public and private, in various
parts of Europe, have been stored with antiquarian wealth.
From the multitude of sepulchres, the spot received the
name of Campo Nero—"Black Field2"—a name now
almost obsolete. But, though hundreds—nay, thousands—
of tombs have been opened, what remains to satisfy the
curiosity of the visitor 1 One mean sepulchre alone. All
the rest have been covered in as soon as rifled ; the usual
excuse being—"per non damnificar il podere." Even the
tomb of the Csecinae, that family so illustrious in ancient
times, has been refilled with earth, lest the produce of a
square yard or two of soil should be lost to the owner; and
its site is now forgotten. " 0 optimi cives Volaterrani /"
Are ye deserving of the commendation Cicero bestowed
on your ancestors,3 when ye set so little store on the
monuments of those very forefathers which Fortune has
■ Gori, Mus. Etrus. III. p. 93. » Cicero, pro Domo sua, XXX.