From Florence to Volterra
On Wednesday May 22nd we left Florence to travel to our new destination for the next two nights in San Gimignano. Although I was sorry to leave Florence I was excited about seeing the hill country of Tuscany. We drove in a very, spacious comfortable bus in the back roads so we could stop to photograph the beautiful countryside. This blog features the drive from Florence to Volterra, a stop on our way to San Gimignano.
The subsoil in Tuscany is relatively rich in mineral resources. Although its share is falling all of the time, agriculture still contributes to the region's economy. Olives and grapes, for the world famous Chianti wines are grown here. The above and below photos shows the vineyards in the region.
A close up view.
We stopped to take photos of the Badia di Passignano Abbey located in the Chianti Classico region. This ancient monastery dates back to 395 when it was established by the archbishop of Florence. Today it is still inhabited by monks of the Vallombrosian Order. This order, a reformed branch of the Beneditines specialize in grape growing and foresty. The order is also known for their attention to classical and musical texts and promotion of scientific research- Galileo Galilei taught here in 1587. The abbey dominates the village which is just a cluster of houses. The town with its towering cypress trees was a great place to photograph.
A close up view of the village.
The first poppies that we were able to stop and photograph.
Shortly afterwards we were on our way to Volterra but we first stopped to photograph some fields. You can see that it was pretty windy from the way the grasses are blowing. Everything is so green that this area must get lots of rain. Friends of mine are in Ireland now (where it pretty much rains every day) and some of their pictures are a bit similar to these hills(well at least all of the green parts).
From the road we had seen this metal circle which we thought would be a great place to photograph. Taking pictures from the other side of the circle framed the landscape but I preferred this view. This structure was created by Mauro Staccioli and there are others like it in the area although this was the only one we came across.
One final view from the same area.
It took us most of the day but we finally arrived in Volterra. Voterra became a town in the Roman age. It was a bishop's residence in the 4th century. At some point The Florentines conquered the city until the Florentine Republic fell in 1530. At that time Volterra came under the control of the Medici family. Eventually, the town came under the control of the Grand Dutchy of Tuscany. Volterra was given the honorary title of "city" in 2013- not because of its population of approximately 11,000 but because of its rich historical heritage.
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We visited the Rossi Alabaster workshop which was founded in 1912. The company offers a huge selection of alabaster products such as statutes, bowls and vases . Alabaster is quarried in the surrounding areas of Volterra. The town has been famous for its artisan shops since the times of the Etruscans. |
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We spent a little while watching this artisan in action before wandering around the showrooms admiring the pieces of art. |
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A couple of displays from the three rooms of galleries that I walked through. |
The Roman ruins in Volterra (1st century BC). The Roman baths which were built in the 4th century AD are behind the Roman theatre. The ruins were buried under trash in the middle ages and discovered in 1951.
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Someone asked me if the musicians expected money when you photographed them. I didn't find this to be the case but this time I contributed. |
I liked the look of this outdoor cafe.
This view was taken from the town overlooking the hills. Voterra is famous as one of the locations in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. During its time of glory as the northernmost city of the twelve that made up the Etuscan League, the city was much bigger. As an aside, the Etruscan civilization was at its height around 500 BC and was an important influence on the Romans who subdued the Etruscans by the end of the 3rd century BC.
Comments
Isn't it amazing to see structures of such age???
Beautiful photos. I particularly liked the one of the fruits. It looks like someone should be there painting them - or photographing them ;)