‘There's a power struggle going on across Europe these days. A few cities are competing against each other to see who shall emerge as the great 21st century European metropolis. Will it be London? Paris? Berlin? Zurich? Maybe Brussels, center of the young union? They all strive to outdo one another culturally, architecturally, politically, fiscally. But Rome, it should be said, has not bothered to join the race for status. Rome doesn't compete. Rome just watches all the fussi

Populonia towers over Baratti bay, the combination making this one of the idyllic places along Tuscany’s Tyrrhenian coastline. A breath-taking transformation has turned Baratti bay and its Etruscan acropolis into one of the most magical of places. The removal of the 19th-century iron works and piers in Baratti bay was a masterstroke. Now immaculately spruced up, today it is a marina with a narrow strip of sand and a small but significant Etruscan cemetery. I have come to see

Today’s Financial Times welcomes Professor Conte’s new Italian government cautiously. The cabinet brings together a mixture of populists and technocrats, young and old. All have to face the fact that Italy has almost the lowest estimated growth this year in the EU and its highest unemployment. The two go together, the FT’s pundits opine. Italy needs investment which calls for strategic planning. Giuseppe Conte (L) shaking hands with Italy's President Sergio Mattarella in Rome

Massa Marittima is Tuscany’s little Siena. A gem of a Medieval town, it sits looking towards the Mediterranean on a promontory extending out from the Colline Metaliferre. The green ocean of the metal-bearing hills contrasts with the rolling littoral of the Maremma. Its exquisite piazza is dominated by a great cathedral dedicated to San Cerbone on a raised podium, and surrounded by twelfth-century palazzi. Unbeknown to me it celebrates its Medieval heritage with a remarkable f

I was introduced to archaeology over fifty years ago at night classes by Duncan Grant King whose main claim to archaeological fame was that he assisted the fast-living marmalade magnate, Alexander Keiller, in excavating the great prehistoric stone circle at Avebury, Wiltshire. Avebury, now, a UNESCO world heritage site awash with visitors, I make my annual pilgrimage to see the barber-surgeon found by Keiller crushed beneath a sarsen. This poor fellow makes up one case’s wort