DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.786#0257
240
POPULONIA.
[chap. xliu.
Midway lies the Bay of Portoferrajo, so called from
its shipments of iron ore ; and the town itself, the court of
the exiled Emperor, is visible on a rock jutting into
the bay.6
The finest portions of the Etruscan walls he on this
western side of Populonia, and from the magnitude of the
masonry are appropriately termed " I Massi."7 They are
formed of blocks, perhaps less rectangular than those of
Volterra, but laid horizontally, though with little regularity.
More care seems to have been bestowed on smoothing the
surface of the masonry than on its arrangement; and it is
often vain to attempt to count the number of courses, as
blocks of very different heights lie side by side. None of
them are of the vast dimensions of some at Piesole and
Volterra.8 But the frequent splitting of the rock often
6 Portoferrajo is 20 miles from Popu-
lonia, but the nearest point of Elba is
not more than IS miles. He who
would cross to that island must do so
from Follonica or Piombino — better
from the latter from which it is only
8 miles distant, and whence there is a
regular communication. As the island
belonged to the Etruscans, remains of
that people may be expected to exist
there, but I have never heard of such
being discovered; and I have had no
opportunity of visiting it for personal
research. Sir Richard C. Hoare de-
scribes some ancient remains at Le
Grotte, opposite Portoferrajo, and on
Capo Castello, where they are called
the « Palazzo della Regina dell' Elba,"
—both he considers to be of the same
date, and his description seems to indi-
cate them as Roman__Classical Tour,
I. pp. 23, 26. But he who would gain
information on the antiquities of Elba,
should seek an introduction to Signor
Francois, the experienced and success-
ful excavator of Tuscan Etruria, who is
now a resident at Portoferrajo. Elba,
however, has more interest for the
naturalist than for the antiquary. It
is, as Repetti observes, " the best
stored mineralogical cabinet in Tus-
cany." Its iron mines have been re-
nowned from the days of the Romans
(■at supra, page 237), and Virgil (Mn.
X. 174) truly calls Elba,
Insula inexhaustis ehalybum generosa
metallis.
For an account of this beautiful island
and its productions see Repetti, II. v.
Isola dell' Elba.
' It is this portion of the walls which
is represented in the woodcut at the
head of this Chapter. The block
marked a is 6 ft. 6 in. by 2 ft. 6 in.—
that marked b is 5 ft. 4 in. by 2 ft.
2 in.
8 The largest I could find was 7 feet
in length ; few are more than 2 feet in
height, and many much less than one.
It may be observed here, as at Volterra
and other sites in northern Etruria,
that the smallest and shallowest blocks
POPULONIA.
[chap. xliu.
Midway lies the Bay of Portoferrajo, so called from
its shipments of iron ore ; and the town itself, the court of
the exiled Emperor, is visible on a rock jutting into
the bay.6
The finest portions of the Etruscan walls he on this
western side of Populonia, and from the magnitude of the
masonry are appropriately termed " I Massi."7 They are
formed of blocks, perhaps less rectangular than those of
Volterra, but laid horizontally, though with little regularity.
More care seems to have been bestowed on smoothing the
surface of the masonry than on its arrangement; and it is
often vain to attempt to count the number of courses, as
blocks of very different heights lie side by side. None of
them are of the vast dimensions of some at Piesole and
Volterra.8 But the frequent splitting of the rock often
6 Portoferrajo is 20 miles from Popu-
lonia, but the nearest point of Elba is
not more than IS miles. He who
would cross to that island must do so
from Follonica or Piombino — better
from the latter from which it is only
8 miles distant, and whence there is a
regular communication. As the island
belonged to the Etruscans, remains of
that people may be expected to exist
there, but I have never heard of such
being discovered; and I have had no
opportunity of visiting it for personal
research. Sir Richard C. Hoare de-
scribes some ancient remains at Le
Grotte, opposite Portoferrajo, and on
Capo Castello, where they are called
the « Palazzo della Regina dell' Elba,"
—both he considers to be of the same
date, and his description seems to indi-
cate them as Roman__Classical Tour,
I. pp. 23, 26. But he who would gain
information on the antiquities of Elba,
should seek an introduction to Signor
Francois, the experienced and success-
ful excavator of Tuscan Etruria, who is
now a resident at Portoferrajo. Elba,
however, has more interest for the
naturalist than for the antiquary. It
is, as Repetti observes, " the best
stored mineralogical cabinet in Tus-
cany." Its iron mines have been re-
nowned from the days of the Romans
(■at supra, page 237), and Virgil (Mn.
X. 174) truly calls Elba,
Insula inexhaustis ehalybum generosa
metallis.
For an account of this beautiful island
and its productions see Repetti, II. v.
Isola dell' Elba.
' It is this portion of the walls which
is represented in the woodcut at the
head of this Chapter. The block
marked a is 6 ft. 6 in. by 2 ft. 6 in.—
that marked b is 5 ft. 4 in. by 2 ft.
2 in.
8 The largest I could find was 7 feet
in length ; few are more than 2 feet in
height, and many much less than one.
It may be observed here, as at Volterra
and other sites in northern Etruria,
that the smallest and shallowest blocks