Umbria - Italy - page 205

The chapel across from Cappella San Brizio is almost forgotten today, but
it's worth a brief visit to see the religious relic for which the church began to be
constructed in 1290: a cloth said to be stained with the blood of Christ. The jew-
eled case containing the relic and the surrounding paintings illustrate this
“Miracle of Bolsena.” Every visitor to Orvieto should take the opportunity to
descend into the depths and explore some of the caves hidden beneath the city.
Organized cave tours (see “Dueling Underground Tours: Which Is Better?” on
Who Are the Etruscans & Why Are
They Following Me?
Across Umbria the signs are always the same: ' X ' BUILDING IS THE RECENTLY
REFURBISHED VILLA OF A RENAISSANCE NOBLEMAN WHO EXPANDED A MEDIEVAL HOME BUILT
FROM A ROMAN WATCHTOWER BASED ON AN ETRUSCAN FOUNDATION . NOTE THE ORIGINAL ETR -
USCAN WALLS IN ROOM ' Y .' Or THE TOWN WELL WAS DEVELOPED IN THE 14 TH CENTURY FROM
THE ETRUSCAN ORIGINAL .
Who were these people whose apparent mission in life was to bake pot-
tery, stack stones, and bury their dead all over Tuscany and Umbria?
It is known that the Etruscans settled widely across northern and cen-
tral Italy in the 9th century B . C ., and reached the peak of their power and
influence across the western Mediterranean between 700 and 600 B . C .
Their presence was felt in trade, war, culture, and shipping, until they were
defeated in the Greek naval wars in the 4th century B . C . Later, they were
absorbed into the Roman empire. Beyond that, things get fuzzy. Even as
far back as 500 B . C ., the Greek historian Herodotus was trying to figure out
where the Etruscans came from. Were they indigenous peoples of Italy?
Had they emigrated from Asia Minor?
Secondhand Greek and Roman histories, combined with archaeological
evidence gleaned from Etruscan ruins and tombs, suggest that the
Etruscans developed a unique culture native to Tuscany and Umbria. They
consolidated local tribal groups into a collection of city-states centered in
what are now Orvieto, Perugia, and Arezzo, among others. The Etruscans
are credited with the creation of much of the art, language, and architec-
ture commonly associated with the Roman empire, including arches, aque-
ducts, and, yes, the first paving of an ancient autostrada. Their downfall
came after they developed the art of internecine warfare.
What is exciting today is to stare at stacked 2-ton stones, a 90m (300-
ft.) well shaft, or a thousand symmetrical, decorated urns and think, “How
in the world did they do that?” Imagine the effort, the ingenuity, and the
communal spirit that was necessary not to re-create, not to improve upon,
but to build all these major structures with little more than tools of bone
and bronze, and brute strength. On the other hand, there's plenty of evi-
dence that the Etruscans themselves built on top of the Villanovans, who
were influenced by the Phoenicians, who studied the . . . .