scavi archeologici

Tuscan
Archaeological
Service

Archaeological
excavations in Chiusi
Directed by Dr.A.Rastrelli

H O M E

ARCHAEOLOGICAL AREA OF CHIUSI

Chiusi (Etruscan "Clevsins") was one of the most important cities in central and northern Etruria and enjoyed continuous prosperity right up until the early Middle Ages, thanks to its position on important routes of communication and the fertility of the surrounding countryside. Its period of greatest development (towards the end of the 6th century B.C.), coincided with the tyranny of Porsenna, the famous lucumon who conquered Rome.
Chiusi's wealth is certified principally by its necropoli - the most important of which were Poggio Gaiella and Poggio Renzo - looted by tomb robbers during the last century. At least twenty of the numerous monumental tombs were painted: the mythical tomb of Porsenna is a cultured Latin reconstruction, while the tombs of Leone and Pellagrina can be visited at the same time as the National Archaeological Museum of Chiusi.
Two famous exhibits preserved in the Archaeological Museum in Florence come from excavations in the countryside around Chiusi: the extremely rare François Vase (6th century B.C.), found in a tomb at Fonte Rotella, and the sarcophagus of noblewoman Larthia Selanti, from the Necropolis of Poggio Cantarello.

The most recent excavations have concentrated mainly on the urban development of Chiusi, discovering a series of protohistoric villages in the urban area and in its immediate vicinity, a 6th century B.C. construction at Petriolo and the Etruscan and Roman walls around the city.