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Vetulonia was the Etruscan Vatl(una), a town widely documented in archaic history and then again during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. In fact, it was destroyed at an unknown time, and the memory of its site almost disappeared. A small Medieval and then modern centre developed over its remains. It was known as Colonna di Buriano until when, after many years of uncertainty and harsh diatribes, the Etruscan area of Vatl(una) was finally identified last century at Poggio Colonna, within the municipality of Castiglione della Pescaia. Behind the research and studies carried out in this area, there was a physician named Isidoro Falchi, an amateur archaeologist who managed to change the name of the small town to its original Etruscan name “Vatl”, later Italianised in Vetulonia. The very first settlement dates back to the Villanovian period (9th-8th centuries B.C.), although the main political and economical development took place between the 7th and the early 6th centuries B.C.. The town subsequently started to rapidly decaying.

Although very little can still be admired today, visitors can appreciate this site thanks to the multi-media station (Welcome totem) located within “Isidoro Falchi” Civic Archaeology Museum. The ancient acropolis included in the castle built in the Middle Ages was probably surrounded by a circuit of walls dating back to the 6th century B.C.. The wide necropolis of Vetulonia features incineration and inhumation tombs, grouped by “continuous circles”, each consisting of a tumulus of beaten earth with a diameter of 20-30m, bordered by flags of stones vertically arranged. A wide range of funeral offerings were also found. The necropolis includes large monumental burials with dromos and covered chambers with fake tholos domes and central pillars. One of the most representative examples of these tombs can be seen along Via dei Sepolcri: it’s the Tomb of Pietrera (7th century B.C.). Here archaeologists found some of the most ancient examples of in-the-round Etruscan statues made of stone.

Hub location
“Isidoro Falchi” Civic Archaeology Museum, piazza Vetluna, Vetulonia (Castiglione della Pescaia)
 
Open to the public
October - February: 10,00-16,00;  
March - May: 10,00-18,00 
June - September: 10,00-14,00; 16,00-20,00;
Closed on Monday
Opened everyday in July and August
Entrance:
4.50 full; 2.50 reduced


Contacts
Tel:+39  0564 948058 

E-Mail: info@archeologiatoscana.it