Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
comes here. The creamy tra-
vertine church is set against a
background of tree-clad hills
in the Starcia valley. The very
earliest surviving church on
the site dates back to the 9th
century, but locals prefer to
think the church was founded
by the Holy Roman Emperor
Charlemagne in 781. The
main part of the church was
built in 1118 in the French
Romanesque style, and the
exterior is decorated with
interlaced blank arcades
carved with the symbols
of the Four Evangelists.
The soft, honey-coloured
alabaster interior has an odd
luminous quality which is
seen to change according to
time of day and season. The
capitals in the nave are carved
with geometric designs, leaf
motifs and biblical scenes.
Recorded plainsong echoes
around the walls, adding to
the eerie atmosphere.
The Augustinian monks
who tend the church sing
Gregorian chant at mass
every Sunday and there are
organ concerts in the church
during July and August.
Etruscan frieze in the Museo Nazionale Etrusco in Chiusi
Chiusi
e
Road map
E4.
ground galleries beneath the
city, dug by the Etruscans and
used as Christian catacombs
in the 3rd-5th centuries.
*
10,000.
V
@
n
Piazza Duomo 1 (0578 22 76
67).
(
Mon, Tue.
Sant'Antimo
r
Road map
D4.
Custodian
0577
83 56 59.
Chiusi was one of the
most powerful cities in the
Etruscan league, reaching the
height of its influence in the
7th and 6th centuries BC
(see
pp42-3)
. There is a large
number of Etruscan tombs in
the surrounding countryside.
10:30am-12:30pm,
3-6:30pm Mon-Sat, 9:15-10:45am,
3-6pm Sun.
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7
This beautiful abbey church
(see pp44-5)
has inspired
many poets and painters and
enchants everyone who
E
Museo Archeologico
Nazionale
Via Porsenna 93
.
Tel
0578 201 77.
#
7
The museum, founded in 1871,
is packed with cremation urns,
vases decorated with black
figures and Bucchero ware,
burnished to resemble bronze.
Most of these were excavated
from local tombs, which can
be visited by arrangement
with the museum.
9am-8pm daily.
&
R
Duomo
Piazza del Duomo.
daily.
The Romanesque cathedral is
built from recycled Roman
pillars and capitals. The deco-
rations on the nave walls seem
to be mosaics, but in fact were
painted by Arturo Viligiardi
in 1887. There is a Roman
mosaic under the High Altar.
#
E
Museo della Cattedrale
Piazza del Duomo.
Tel
0578 22 64 90.
#
Jun-mid-Oct: 9:30am-12:45pm,
4-7pm daily; mid-Oct-May 9:30am-
12:45pm Mon-Sat, 3:30-6:30pm
Sun (Jan-Mar: open only Tue, Thu,
Sat).
partial.
The museum has a display of
Roman, Lombardic and medi-
eval sculpture. Visits can be
arranged here to the under-
&
7
The beautiful abbey church of Sant'Antimo
