Being someone who always enjoyed history and is an art major, Italy was a place I heard a lot about. It is a place I one day dreamed to go. I never once thought I would get to spend the time I have here though. Three months is a long time and a very short time. One goes beyond being a tourist but yet but still not there long enough not to be. 3000 years of history in the microcosm that is Volterra. A small town of 1100 people, in the mountains of Tuscany. Volterra is rich in its Italian Culture, architecture, arts, music, fashion, design, and cuisine. Each of these topics could be a paper on their own so ill try an touch briefly on my experience on living in the microcosm.
Volterra is situated on the top of a mountain surrounded by a medieval wall that you can see from miles away. When driving up to the town at night Volterra is known for looking like a ship from far away because of its medieval wall. What sort of history does Volterra touch onto? Everything one comes to see Italy for can be found in Volterra. Starting with the Etruscans, who settled here as far back to the 8th century BCE. The Etruscans picked to live on Volterra’s mountain because It was the flattest around to build upon. Etruscans would be able to see an attack from any direction. Volterra has a natural geographic defense. Volterra is also very close to the sea and imported goods were easy to get. There are still many walls and one standing gate entrance that the Etruscans built long ago. They sand stone grows stronger and stronger as the years go by. The main Etruscan entrance has what looks like three figureheads protruding from the top of the gate. However, through time the wind has slowly taken off the detail that once was there and it is impossible to tell whom the heads were. There are some very good guesses though that the heads are, the gods, lords, or Etruscan kings.
Volterra is known for having the largest collection of Etruscan urn’s. Urns were made or plaster or alabaster stone obviously the wealthier your family was the more likely you would have an alabaster urn. The urns were pre made and once a family member died you would go and pick out an urn that represented the diseased. From there the artist would custom the urn into looking like the diseased. There was a lot of symbolism that was put into these sculptures. Pomegranates stand for fertility, and mirrors stand for wealth, as well as leaf fans which also symbolized wealth, which were common items sculptured that a female is holding on their urns. Males were more commonly known for holding “patera” which is something that held wine one could drink from. These urns were always painted and though it is very hard to tell if you look close enough you can sometimes still see a painted eye or more.
Up until 30 years ago the roman bathhouses were still being used. It was a washhouse for cleaning laundry. What does this say about Volterra? That it keeps it traditions pasted down through generations. That it is not as affected like the rest of the world on what is new and “better” because they already have a system that works and had worked through the ages.
Volterra has all these pieces of history in such a small town. When I first got here I would tell people it was like living in Disney land. The reason I said that is because you can walk from one part of history to another in a matter of 15 minuets. People here have a love for history it is common knowledge to know about the Etruscans and Roman’s and Medieval culture.
The Roman theater was discovered in 1951. It use to be a huge soccer filed that people were upset when the archeologist Enrico Fiumi wanted to dig it up. Who knew what they would find under that soccer filed not something you would expect in Canada that’s for sure. That is the difference though between living in Volterra and living in Canada. You could dig anywhere in Volterra and it would not surprise the locals at all to find some thousand year old artifact and history. The locals in Volterra were born into the arts culture and history is a huge part of that it is all connected. Though if I were to dig a big hole in my backyard and found thousand year old discoveries it would probably be the talk of the year in Canada and made to be this huge deal. In Volterra you can walk into shops and find holes in the floor with glass over them showing ancient storerooms that were found and are now on display. These places aren’t always advertised, as the whole town is a museum for the ancient world.
The cuisine is so completely different from what a Canadian typical meal would be. For those that say that Canada does not have culture they are very wrong. After seeing the difference in culture from being in Volterra I can honestly say that Canada does in fact have a culture. Italian make very complicated meals that take time to prepare and are meant to be enjoyed. Enjoying a meal is part of the culture here you can know the time without even looking at a watch. The streets will be packed before dinner 7:00PM to 8:00PMand packed after dinner 9:00PM and so on. During dinner the streets will be deserted people just know where they need to be.
The difference between Canada and Italy is that Italy wants to decorate their buildings to make the buildings match the ancient buildings that surround them. Rather than just building to what is functional, Italy builds to what is beautiful.
Living in an extremely cultural and artistic town is very different from living in Toronto growing up. I can see how art is encouraged and looked up too rather than thought of as a joke. I would always get very annoyed when I told people I was taking art in university because people would roll their eyes or simply just not respect the craft. Art is a very labor-intensive subject that takes hours of study to fully understand. Here art is successful and enjoyed.
Volterra is famous for its Alabaster artisans. Years ago the area that surrounds the Volterra Mountain was covered by the sea. The sea left salt deposits that created the alabaster stone. The stone can be mined though most of time now it is found on the surface or come from other countries. Alabaster is a softer stone then marble but is mostly made up of salt. The art of Alabaster that use to keep people wealthy in Volterra is slowly diminishing as time goes on. It is becoming less and less a business that is easy to keep a float. Before coming to Italy I would completely consider myself a painter and not a sculpture, as I have never been good at it. My brain is use to thinking in 2D and sculpture is in 3D and very realistic. Painting I can give and take away however I feel like in sculpture there is only take away and if you make a mistake that’s it. I thought that learning how to sculpt might make me a better painter. It would teach me to look at things a little differently. I was right; sculpture gave me a whole knew way to look at things in the art world. It is a great way to look at the same problem differently and come up with different outcomes. I have been told in my past that I paint like a sculpture but I never thought anything of it. People in Volterra who study alabaster have a great appreciation for the arts because they respect the amount of work and talent needed to go into the works of art. Weather it be new modern art like the eggs that Gulias took us to see or the sculpture of the priest each are extremely hard to create.
Italians out of the entire tourist in the world I believe are the best dressed. When they go out it is never in their worst clothing unless they are construction workers in which case you cannot really judge them. What I mean is they dress to impress. Italians are leaders in the fashion world or at least one of them. Italians do no dress in just your simple jeans and a t-shirt, there is colour, or unique shapes or jewels that bring out the best in the article.
I find the music in Italy to be cutting edge very new and first I have heard of it. When things are new in Canada they have normally already started somewhere else in the world and Italy is one of those places. Further more there are live bands everywhere. Every street corner you go has a live band where the players look happy and enjoying them selves rather than hassling for money. Even the locals stop to have a listen along the roads and familiar faces start to place instruments in the streets.