Open-air Archaeological Museum in Pitigliano
A journey through Etruscan history, from the “City of the living” to the “City of the dead”
The open-air Archaeological Museum in Pitigliano, dedicated to professor Alberto Manzi, was founded to to promote the natural and historic heritage of the area. Here visitors can to completely immerse themselves in the Etruscan history of this place in the surroundings of Pitigliano.
Walking through the “City of the living,” visitors can see reconstructions of the various phases of the urban design, ranging from the protohistoric village from the Bronze Age, represented by an informative model of a large-scale, typical circular hut, to the Etruscan town with a three-room house and porch.
A via cava (excavated road) leads to the underground “City of the dead,” where visitors can see the Etruscan cemetery of Gradone, with one-, two- and three-room tombs that were used during the second half of the 7th century until the end of the 6th century BCE.
Here visitors can go to the demonstrative tomb, where the burial sites of Larth and Velia has been set up and the sacredness and emotions of an Etruscan funeral ceremony are re-enacted. A further descent leads to the San Giovanni Necropolis with tombs which range from the 6th to the 4th-3rd centuries BCE.
Accessibility information: museidimaremma.it
