Etruscan collection
 

I have become interested in this art work/population. I will be traveling throughout London, Paris, Florence, Venice, Rome, Orvieto, Assisi, Naples, etc.

I really want to just make one stop to see this collection. Where would I find the most extensive Etruscan collection?

Thank you!

Well, technically, you should be able to find it in the Vatican, but I never managed to find it open when I wanted to see it. I found the collection in Fiesole to the excellent and well presented.(Fiesole is just above Florence...1/2 hour from downtown on the #7 bus, I believe).

I suspect others will chime in with more info...

Rome has a National Etruscan Museum with a good collection.

Between Florence and Orvieto is the National Etruscan Museum at Chiusi. Here's a bit of information about Etruscans in the Chiusi area and the museum:

>>Chiusi is situated in a very strategic location, midway between Rome and Florence, between Montepulciano and Orvieto.
Chiusi, was one of the most powerful cities in the Etruscan league, reaching the 7th and 6th centuries BC. Its origins come back to the first millennium B.C. Between the 6th and the 7th centuries B.C. it became one the most important cities in the Etruscan League. Under the leadership of the Etruscan king Porsenna this League was powerful enough to attack Rome.
Etruscan allied with Romans in the 1st century and the city changed its name into Clusium.
There is a large number of Etruscan tombs in the surrounding countryside. The
Museo Nazionale Etrusco is one of the most important repositories of Etruscan remains in Italy. The Museum also provides guided visits to the main Etruscan tombs in the very nearness of the town, like Tomba della Scimmia and Tomba del Leone.

The Romanesque cathedral, the Duomo of San Secondiano, is opposite the museum and built from recycled Roman pillars and capitals. There is an authentic Roman mosaic underneath the high altar. The Duomo dates back to 560AD on the site of an earlier basilica. Although renovated in the 13th century and much decorated in the 19th, the marble columns, mosiac floor and alabaster font are all Roman.
The Museo della Cattedrale has a collection of codices and illuminated religious books from the 15 and 16C, coming from the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, gold and silver ware, reliquaries, and religious ornaments. The museum leads into the Labyrinth of Porsenna, a series of tunnels beneath the town, dating from the sixth century BC and probably utilized in Etruscan-Roman times for drainage of rain waters.

The catacombs of Santa Mustiola and Santa Caterina d’Alessandria, 2km out of town and used by fourth and fifth century Christians, were discovered in 1634 and 1848. The Catacombs of Santa Mustiola and Santa Caterina belong to Roman Period, as well as the great water cistern. In the 13th century, a defence tower was built over it. Later, at the end of the 16th century, this was converted into a bell tower. A vast network of Etruscan tunnels stretch underneath the town. Part of these have been cleared of debris and can be now explored as part of an unusual and fascinating guided tour. This underground world comprises Porsenna's Labyrinth and the Epigraph section in the Civic Museum, with a great Etruscan well overlooking a pool of 30 meters depth.

This is great info!!! May I have the official website so that I can see the guided tour info? how to get there? etc.

I found that they open from 9am-2pm.

http://www.toscanaunderground.it/eng/museochiusi.htm

I found it!

http://www.comune.volterra.pi.it/eng...iit/metru.html

I have not been, but read about it in my guidebook. Guidebook says it is considered the third-best Etruscan museum anywhere, after the Vatican and the British Museum.

Orvieto also has an underground tour and a walking path around the town that is scattered with tombs.
http://www.orvietounderground.it/

Luggage might be a problem if you plan on stopping on the way to Orvieto.

about the guided walk in Chisu---is it in English? the website did not say.

I have been to the Etruscan Museum in Volterra recently and found it very interesting. I would recommend getting the audio tour as it was helpful in explaining what I was seeing.

Please do not miss The Villa Giulia museum in Rome.
In there you have possibly the largest collection in the world.
It is inside Villa borghese and it is closed on mondays.
If you will be some days in Rome please consider a daytrip to Tarquinia and Cerveteri

Some of the best towns to view Estruscan relics, caves, tombs, ect are Sutri, Viterbo, and Tarquinia, all in the Viterbo region of Italy, not far from Rome. We visited Sutri 2 weeks ago and there are some incredible tombs and caves, as well as an intact Roman Amphitheater (all free to visit).
Throughout this area there are hundreds of Estruscan remains...they are not tourist areas, but just all along the roadsides and in amongst parks and hillsides, all free to visit.

Mikek

There's a lot of Etruscan stuff in Viterbo too - I was very impressed by the Etruscan National Museum there, and it's pretty close to Orvieto. Open daily except Mondays.