The hidden pleasure of Civita Castellana
Civita Castellana appears to be a Lazio town lost inside a web of new roads. Appearances can deceive. The old centre lies beyond an unexpected canyon and at first glance is rather run-down. Yet, this erstwhile Faliscan capital on the Via Amerina, has a host of fine churches and early modern buildings in need of a little love. I was here after visiting its post-Faliscan successor, Falerii Novi, 6 kilometres outside the maze of the roads. No canyons here, in 240-41 BC the Roman
Battlefield archaeology in Italy?
Battlefield archaeology is not an Italian thing. With the exception of the First World War forts in the autonomous region of the Alto Adige, it leaves modern military archaeology to martial countries like France, Great Britain and the USA. Italy has more than enough archaeological sites, churches and palaces. How can it cope with modern archaeology? Then again, some battlefield archaeology is exceptional as the Alto Adige recognizes in its promotion of First World War forts a
Finding Settefinestre
Italy’s most celebrated post-war archaeologist, Andrea Carandini, essentially initiated a paradigm change in national field archaeology in his excavations at Settefinestre. Here Carandini defined a quintessential slave-owning villa (the subject of endless debate), and introduced stratigraphical methods in place of clearance excavations, with new recording techniques supported by disciplines like environmental archaeology. This Tuscan excavation in the later 1970s gave meaning
Orbetello international airport
Airports are mostly non-places, anonymous malls and lines for checking-in, security, passports, and boarding. Not so Orbetello international airport. Where….? Secreted in the eastern walls of the immense Renaissance defences of this Tuscan causeway town, with lagoons either side, are the remains of an airport. The entrance has a Renaissance aura as did the terminal itself, astride the east-facing ramparts. From here a wide iron stairway led across the wide ditch to open groun
December hedonism at Saturnia
Every country has its own way of enjoying itself. At least, this my explanation as I sit a mite awkwardly amongst hundreds of scantily dressed hedonists enjoying the tepidly warm, milky white waters of Saturnia. Saturnia, taking the hot waters Saturnia was an Etruscan hilltop town surrounded by rich, megalithic-type tombs that was transformed into a Roman colony. (Close to the church is a little museum dedicated to the archaeology; the Via Clodia gate also survives.) Lost in
