Etruscan city of alabaster — older than Rome, perched above eroded clay cliffs
Volterra is one of Tuscany's most dramatic hilltowns, perched at 555m above eroded clay badlands called the Balze. It was one of the 12 major cities of the Etruscan League, predating Rome, and its Guarnacci Museum holds the world's most important collection of Etruscan funerary urns. The town is famous for alabaster crafts — workshops have carved the translucent stone for centuries. The medieval Piazza dei Priori and a first-century Roman theatre below the town walls round out a place that refuses to be a day-trip.
Volterra (Etruscan: Velathri) was already a powerful Etruscan city by the 7th century BCE — its walls, still largely intact, once enclosed an area three times the current medieval town. The Etruscans were master metalworkers and traders; the Guarnacci Museum's 600+ alabaster funeral urns provide the most comprehensive picture of Etruscan life and afterlife beliefs anywhere. Rome absorbed Volterra in 80 BCE after a brutal two-year siege. The medieval era brought its characteristic towers and communal palace; the town has changed relatively little since the 14th century.