Chiusi, Italy is just a dot on the map of Tuscany but rich in experiences. It is only about 150 square miles in size and less than 9,000 Tuscans live there; yet, its role in Italy’s history, more specifically Etruscan history, cannot be denied. The Etruscans thrived from about 1200 to 550 B.C. and left behind a rich legacy of art and culture with an enduring mystery to this day – a language that archaeologists have never been able to fully understand.
The Etruscans had always intrigued me and part of my journey to Tuscany was to research and learn more about this society which vanished along with its isolated language. So, this Italian travel concierge began her odyssey at the National Etruscan Museum in Chiusi. It’s where I turned into Ms. Indiana Jones and became tour guide to a bunch of wayward southerners and a few Japanese and Germans tossed in for good measure……all because none of them spoke a word of Italian and I was able to say “ciao” and “grazie” to the museum’s curator.
When you arrive at this little museum of treasures, you try to book a tour but the curator waits until there are enough people around to make the drive into the hills worth his while. By the way, he doesn’t drive so he nominates me to be chauffeur and the lead car for our journey to the Tombe Etruschi. Now, this is made all the more ridiculous in that on my way from Sarteano to Chiusi, I stopped for directions in my broken Italian. A farmer proceeded to tell me that everything is closed…..you see “chiuso,” the Italian word for closed, sounds an awful lot like Chiusi. Mamma mia!
- Indiana Jones has nothing on me!
This truly was a scene out of Around the World in 80 Days. The maestro is in the front seat of my rented Mercedes SUV (hey, that’s the only automatic they had!). He’s shouting out directions of “sinistra, a destra, dritto, no no no, signorina, sinistra,” while three cars follow so closely, fearful of losing me and forever being trapped in gli Tombe Etruschi. We climb higher and higher until we reach our first stop. Parking is a challenge amid farms and goats crossing the road. We manage to leave various sized autos here, there and everywhere, with the hope of not being cursed for killing off Pasquale’s basil plants.
But ahhh, Signore Maestro has a key, a really big skeleton key. I kid you not. It has to be about 1,000 years old but it’s going to open something interesting, I just know it. And there it is – a door buried in a hill of dirt. Hmm? He opens it and we follow underground like lost sheep and I feel like Lord Carnarvon on his quest for King Tut’s tomb. This is so exciting.
It’s cold and dank but once we hunch over like Quasimodo for about 20′, we enter…….. an empty space. They left behind a sarcophagus but Maestro tells us most everything else from here has been relocated……….where else? Wait for it…………back at the museum!
Okay, onto the next stop – Maestro has an even bigger key and we climb across another tiny farm to enter another buried door but this one, this one holds the treasure trove. OK, not really but it is still so exciting. This is the tomb of what we decipher to be the Pellegrina Family. At least it looks like that in the Etruscan alphabet. The
- Could this be “Alma Pellegrina?”
sarcophagus of “Alma Pellegrina” has been left behind, along with some amazing frescoes, buried under farmland for nearly 3,000 years. The ceilings are also loaded with live mosquitoes and I’m thinking they have a virus from 3,000 years ago. Now, as Maestro kindly explains to us the history of this family, I feel a tap on my shoulder. It’s Annabelle from Alabama. ” ‘Scuse me, you know what he’s saying? You speak Eye-talian?“ And so I begin weaving the amazing legend of the Pellegrina Family. I later confess that I don’t know if the translation was too accurate but Annabelle and hubby are more than happy, as are the Japanese family of 5 and the German couple who could understand English but not one word of Italian.
All in all, I had a wonderful day, feeling like Ms. Indiana Jones and wishing I was the one holding the key to those tombs. I would love to go back when no one is around! Want to come?
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Hi Bonnie. Thanks so much for the tips on Tarquinia. Is it a train or bus from Rome and how long?
Ciao!
Have you also visited al of the original tombs in Tarquinia – they have a huge area of tombs all opened to the public (with plenty of parking) – you can also find at a separate location an underground – or actually it is a reconverted mushroom cavern) a replica of Etruscan tombs and life scenes by a famous local artisan. He depicts scenes with statues and then has model tombs filled with replicas of what they originally contained – all life size! It is a wonderful view of Etruscan life and well worth the visit. It is within walking disgtance of the tomb area. Tarquinia itself is a wonderful old town outside of Roma and well worth the time to visit! It is loaded with the usual museums and old churches, quaint shops, and not far from the beaches. Think the famous Winged Horses statue – they are from here and can be seen in the museum.
Bonnie