Etruscans and contemporaneity

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• Hotel*** Torre del Sole – Tarquinia

FROM THE ETRUSCANS TO CONTEMPORARY ART

Arrival in Tarquinia and check-in at Hotel Torre del Sole***.

Dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel. Visit to the Monterozzi Necropolis.

The city of Tarquinia (Tarquinii in Latin, Tarch(u)na in Etruscan) was one of the oldest and most important settlements of the Etruscan dodecapolis. Linked to Rome from very early times, it gave the city the dynasty of Etruscan kings (Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius and Tarquinius Superbus) who played a leading role in Latin history. The Monterozzi hill, about 6 km long, hosts the main city necropolis, running parallel to the Tyrrhenian coast. The tombs cover almost the entire hill — more than six thousand are known, mostly chambers carved into the rock and topped by tumuli. In the section currently open to the public you can admire some of the most famous painted tombs, such as those of the Lionesses, the Leopards and Hunting and Fishing.

Free time for lunch. Then transfer to Bomarzo to visit the Park of Monsters.

Prince Pier Francesco Orsini, known as Vicino, wanted it “only to unburden the heart”. It was conceived by the great architect Pirro Ligorio, who after Michelangelo’s death was called to work on St Peter’s. The result, unexpected even to Orsini and Ligorio, was an enduring masterpiece that popular imagination renamed the PARK OF MONSTERS. The sculptures, carved into the large blocks of stone rooted there, seem to have sprung from the ground as if by magic. It all dates to the 16th century (1552). After Vicino Orsini’s death the masterpiece of Mannerist art was neglected for centuries, then saved from oblivion and restored for the joy of intellectuals, writers, artists and tourists from all over the world.

Return to the hotel. Dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel. Departure for Capalbio to visit the Tarot Garden, a fantastical realm dominated by the artistic, sculptural representation of the 22 major arcana of the tarot — monumental works (12 to 15 metres) clad in dazzling mosaic and a puzzle of mirrors, ceramics, murrine, coloured glass and polyester, in playful dialogue with the lush vegetation. The park-museum was created by Niki de Saint Phalle, who in 1974 decided to give visual form to sensations experienced in dreams in the 1960s. The site is a former quarry reclaimed by vegetation, retaining its amphitheatre shape, where the artist arranged the works around the centre.

Then transfer to Pescia Fiorentina to visit the La Ferriera garden, the precious and personal garden of Giuppi Pietromarchi. Set around an old 18th-century villa, it opens with a beautiful, well-kept lawn shaded by a regular stone-pine grove from around 1920 — an almost solemn spaciousness and inviting coolness. Around the house, pergolas and intimate spaces rich in special plants are the fruit of fine botanical knowledge and exquisite taste.

Included lunch within the garden. Then departure and end of services.