The Tumulus of Montefortini is an Etruscan tomb near Comeana, in the province of Prato, which is believed to date from the 7th century BC.
It is oval shaped, over 12 metres high, it dates from the VII- VI century B.C.
The oldest tomb, of monumental aspect, occupies the central part of the tumulus and features an unroofed dromos (corridor) that leads to a circular cell enclosed by roofing with concentric rings, supported by a pilaster.
The second tomb, dated between 620 and 590 B.C. is reached through a corridor 13 metres long, with high walls made of sandstone slabs in the lower part, blocks of alberese in the upper part.
Excavations began in 1966 and the finds are displayed in the Museum of Artimino.
Leslie Halloran
Please check out my website at: www.lihdesigns.net “A frog in the well does not know the sea.”- Japanese Proverb
Underground fun
Grottos, mines, caves, museums:an outing to land of marble.
Never been caving? In Levignani, just up from the coast, you can and a dive into the Corchia Underground cave system is a spineshivering thrill.
The key attraction is the Antro del Corchia, a spectacular karst complex made up of 70 km of galleries, wells, and conduits: since 2001, expert guides accompany visitors on a 2 km walk through this mysterious secret world.
Some other suggestions: the Miniere dell’Argento Vivo mines, the Arabescato marble quarry, the museum of quarrying tools and equipment.
Tickets Grottos
Via IV Novembre 70, Levignani di Stazzema.
Tel. +39 0584 778405
Arno River
The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. The river originates on Mount Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and takes initially a southward curve. The river turns to the west near Arezzo passing through Florence, Empoli and Pisa, flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea at Marina di Pisa. With a length of 241 kilometers, it is the largest river in the region.
It crosses Florence, where it passes below the Ponte Vecchio and the Santa Trìnita bridge (built by Bartolomeo Ammanati, but inspired by Michelangelo). The river flooded this city regularly in historical times, the last occasion being the famous flood of 1966, with 4,500 m³/s after a rain of 437.2 mm in Badia Agnano and 190 millimetres in Florence, in only 24 hours.
The flow rate of the Arno is irregular. It is sometimes described as having a torrent-like behaviour, because it can easily go from almost dry to near-flood in a few days. At the point where the Arno leaves the Apennines, flow measurements can vary between 0.56 m³/s and 3,540 m³/s. New dams built upstream of Florence have greatly alleviated the problem in recent years.
CYPRESS TREES (Cupressus sempervirens)
Few people can imagine an Italian garden, without images of tall, needle-like cypress trees springing to mind, so strong is the image of the cypress tree in Italy. The cypress tree’s name would suggest that it didn’t originate in Italy – even though its image really does symbolise Italy and everything that’s Italian about this wonderful land!
The Cypress tree’s origins are just as mysterious as it’s early uses and the folklore surrounding it! It is thought to be a native of the ancient Mesopotamia region between the Tiber and Euphrates rivers, which covered the area of modern day Iraq and Iran (once known as Persia). This area that was covered with Mediterranean forests was also the original home of the magical cypress tree. The same area, namely Persia, was also home to the ancient and equally mysterious Etruscan civilisation that inhabited Tuscany many years before Christ. The Etruscans regarded the cypress tree to be extremely sacred and it is widely believed that it was indeed the Etruscans that originally brought the cypress tree with them when the they began arriving in Tuscany.
The evergreen cypress tree grows to height of 20 to 25m and can survive for many thousands of years, outliving many generations of humans. The cypress tree’s longevity, the fact that it remained evergreen throughout the harsh winters and it’s heady resinous scent earned the plant a divine and spiritual status in Etruscan society. The Etruscans used the plant to line the entrances to their dwellings and they seem to have planted as many cypress’ as possible near to their settlements as they believed the fresh, resinous scent purified the air. On hot days one can detect the scent of a group of cypress trees from many metres away and it’s easy to understand why the Etruscans believed the tree improved the atmosphere with its fresh scent.
The wood of the cypress tree is very long lasting owing to its thick, resinous sap, which protects the wood from insect attack. In fact, the timber also emits a strong yet pleasant scent for many years and the Etruscans used the wood of the cypress tree to create sarcophagi and also in the cremation ceremonies themselves, so special was this plant to these early people.
In the Italian garden the cypress tree offers garden designers like me a tree that provides a vertical visual statement that really no other tree can provide. The evergreen, symbolic shape of this tree, standing s20m tall, appears to stretch skywards rather like the steeple of church and one could be forgiven for perceiving strong, spiritual connotations regarding the shape of this tree alone. Standing in the middle of a group of fully grown cypress trees and looking at the sky is most definitely a spiritual experience, as a strong link can be felt between the land on which one stands and abyss of the blue sky above.
Garden designers in Italy still use the cypress tree to line entrance driveways and create evergreen structure around the house and their presence clearly evokes strong symbolic sentiments. I find them indispensible for framing the stunning views that can be seen from many Italian gardens or as visual indications to guide the eye around my garden designs. The use of the cypress tree in Italian garden design is fundamental, however, care should be taken to not exaggerate the use of this immensely special, symbolic yet very subtle tree in Italian style gardens.
Leslie Halloran
Please check out my website at: www.lihdesigns.net “A frog in the well does not know the sea.”- Japanese Proverb
Pieve Santo Stefano Church
This church was built on the site of a small, early Christian church betwen 1000 and 1200. Its Romanesque layout can still be seen on left side and in the apse with its the three windows with one light.
In the 16th century the church was enlarged and a portico was added to the faced, but the inside was completely redesigned at the end of the 18th century.
The church has a nave and two isles, and a vaulted ceiling with decorations dating back to 1910. Inside there is a very fine, late 16th century organ, the work of Onofrio Zecchini; an altar price by Zacchia with La Madonna tra i Santi Rocco e Sebastiano, which is now in the Villa Guinigi museum and has been replaced by an 19th century copy by Michele Ridolfi.
