Chiusi is an Italian town of 8 206 inhabitants in the province of Siena in Tuscany. It boasts the tourist-environmental quality mark of the Orange Flag, awarded by the Italian Touring Club.
1 Co-Cathedral of San Secondiano (Chiusi Cathedral), Via Porsenna.
The co-cathedral, dating back to the 6th century, is the oldest in all
of Tuscany. Although the architecture is predominantly Romanesque it has
undergone significant restorations and renovations. The external bell
tower is of medieval construction.
2 Diocesan Museum of the Cathedral
(Diocesan Museum of the Cathedral and Etruscan tunnels of Chiusi),
Piazza Duomo 7, ☎ +39 0578226490, museocattchiusi@alice.it. full price
€5, reduced €3 (6-14 years) – free up to 6 years (Jul 2020), the visit
includes the Museum and the Labyrinth. Tue-Sun 10.30am-12.30pm and
3pm-5pm. The Museum houses archaeological finds and works of art from
the diocesan territory, dating from the 2nd century to the 20th century,
organized on three floors and divided into four sections.
3 Porsenna
Labyrinth (It can be accessed from the Cathedral Museum, with the same
ticket.), mail@labirinto.info. full price €5, reduced €3 (6-14 years) –
free up to 6 years (Jul 2020), the visit includes the Museum and the
Labyrinth. Mon-Sun 10.45am, 11.30am, 12.15pm, 3.30pm and 4.30pm. The
Porsenna Labyrinth consists of a series of underground tunnels located
under the ancient town of Chiusi, in particular under Piazza del Duomo,
the cathedral and the surrounding buildings. The name of the labyrinth
derives from the description of Pliny the Elder (who quotes Terenzio
Varro) of the mausoleum of Porsenna, the legendary tomb of the Etruscan
ruler protected, according to Latin historians, by a labyrinth. More
likely it is the water supply system, dug by the Etruscans in the
archaic period, and mistakenly defined as the "Labyrinth of Porsenna" by
archaeologists who found the first tunnels in the 1920s. In fact,
scholars believed they had found the mausoleum described by Pliny.
Attention, the temperature inside the Labyrinth is 14 °C.
4 National
Etruscan Museum, Via Porsenna 93, ☎ +39 057820177, fax: +39 0578224452,
sba-tos.museochiusi@beniculturali.it. Full price €6, reduced price €2
(Jul 2020). With the museum ticket you can also visit the tomb of the
Lion, the tomb of the Pilgrim and, upon reservation, the tomb of the
Monkey. Mon-Sun 9.30am-8.00pm. Chiusi was an important Etruscan center
and this museum has numerous Etruscan finds (many urns!), many of which
show Greek influence. A nice way to spend twenty minutes. The numerous
finds come from excavations in the area, in particular the very ancient
canopic tubes and the typical Etruscan sarcophagi.
5 Church of San
Francesco, Via Costarella S. Francesco, 4. The church, built on a
pre-existing one dedicated to San Michele, founded in turn according to
tradition on an Etruscan temple, has the traditional convent layout with
a single nave. The façade, in terracotta and travertine, is divided by
three arches set on twisted columns that frame the Gothic portal. On the
right side there is another thirteenth-century portal, decorated with
twists, with the architrave supported by sculpted corbels. The side
walls are crowned with intertwined arches.
6 Church of Santa Maria
Novella, Piazza XX Settembre. The origin of the small church seems to
date back to the 11th century; the bell tower dates back to a later
period. It was transformed into its current state in the 17th century.
In 1621 the side naves were closed and a room for the adjacent Old
Hospital was created in the one on the left. What remains of the ancient
church are the apse and the bell tower, formerly a tower of the
defensive system. It was completely restored in 1902. It currently has a
simple facade crowned by a gable roof and a single nave interior with
two side altars and the main altar in painted stucco from the 18th
century. In the 1980s some excavations were carried out under the
church, uncovering the remains of two houses from the imperial era, with
pseudo-isodomic walls made of large square blocks of travertine, on
which the primitive early medieval church had been built.
7 Church of
Sant'Apollinare, Via dei Forti. The current church was rebuilt in the
17th century in place of the older one which must have dated back to the
6th century. It was donated to the congregation of the Pious Venerine
Sisters by the Giulietti family of Chiusi. In the interior there were
traces of frescoes from the 15th century until the last war. The church
currently has a simple terracotta façade surmounted by a triangular
gable and a gable roof with a small bell tower.
8 Church of Santo
Stefano, Via Santo Stefano. The church, now closed to worship, was
annexed to a monastery of Augustinian nuns which in 1785 Grand Duke
Pietro Leopoldo transformed into a Conservatory for the education of
girls. Of medieval origin, it was rebuilt in the early nineteenth
century. With a single nave, it has two side altars and the main altar
in painted stucco.
9 Church of Santa Maria della Pace, Piazza
Matteotti, 38 (Chiusi Scalo), ☎ +39057820107. The church was built in
1925 in neo-Gothic style near the railway yard. The façade presents a
large cuspidate portal. The interior has a single large nave with six
large windows on each side concluded by a transept and presbytery.
10
Catacomb of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria, Via dei Ghibellini, ☎ +39 0578
226975, museocattchiusi@alice.it. 1 Jun 16 Oct 3.00pm-4.30pm, 17 Oct 31
May 11.00am-4.00pm. Access to be booked at the Chiusi Cathedral Museum
office. Smaller in size than that of Santa Mustiola, it was discovered
by chance in 1848 during some work in the fields. The structure, which
dates back to the 2nd or 3rd century, is made up of two pagan hypogea of
older dating, then exploited by early Christian communities until the
4th century. The tombs, which are located under the floor, are
pit-shaped. It takes its name from a chapel dedicated to Santa Caterina
delle Ruote which stood nearby. There are numerous stone funerary
inscriptions which reveal the pagan sepulchral origin; the jambs of the
ancient stone door are interesting. The environment is very suggestive,
divided into different parts: passage, oratory, altar, arcosolia and
ambulatory.
11 Tomb of Vigna Grande, Piazzale Lumumba (about 1 km
south of the town, near Via Cassia.). The tomb was discovered during the
19th century and belongs to a late phase of the Etruscan civilization of
Chiusi, dating back to the 2nd century BC, like the tomb of the Grand
Duke. It consists of a single rectangular burial chamber with a barrel
vault. All around the walls runs a platform on which the urns of the
deceased were placed. Inside the tomb, eight inscribed urns of a common
type belonging to the “Herini” family were found.
12 Galeotti Tomb
(next to the Catacomb of Santa Caterina d'Alessandria, about 5 km south
of the town, in the Gragnano area). The tomb was discovered during the
19th century and belongs to a late phase of the Etruscan civilization of
Chiusi, dating back to the 2nd century BC, like the tomb of the Grand
Duke.
13 Lake Chiusi. Lake Chiusi is a protected natural area of local
interest. It is home to numerous species of ardeids, such as, for
example, the little egret, the purple heron and, since 1999, the very
rare ibis. The area is also a stopping point for migratory birds such as
the osprey or the black-winged stilt. Other nesting species are the
great crested grebe, the penduline and the rare whisker.
14 Catacomb
of Santa Mustiola, Provincial Road 49, 36 (north-east of Chiusi, on the
road to Lake Chiusi). 1 Jun 16 Oct 3.00pm-4.30pm, 17 Oct 31 May
11.00am-4.00pm. Access to be booked at the Chiusi Cathedral Museum
office. Discovered in 1634 or, according to other sources in 1643, it
dates back to the 3rd century. The catacomb is divided into a series of
galleries overlooking two main arteries, with the walls marked by
inscriptions, symbols and signs. The tombs are mainly in arcosolium and
niches, arranged in irregular vertical rows. Particular is the presence
of a polysomous arcosolium, i.e. intended to contain multiple bodies,
covered by large tiles. There is the original tomb of Saint Mustiola,
who was buried here in 274 and then transferred to the Cathedral of San
Secondiano. Her cult has been attested since the 4th century and a
basilica was built over her tomb in the 5th century, then rebuilt in 728
and demolished in the 19th century.
The crypt, with interesting
archaic furnishings, is the heart of the structure: it was probably an
ancient tomb of a family that later became Christian; tunnels supported
by brick arch structures branch off from it. At the bottom of the crypt
is an altar, behind it is the ancient cathedra and on the right a marble
inscription from the tomb of the first bishop of Chiusi, Lucius
Petronius Destro, who died in 322. The oldest inscription is that of
Redenta, who died in 290.
15 Church of San Leopoldo, Località
Dolciano, 3. Privately owned, it is located next to the Villa dating
back to the early 18th century. The building, in neoclassical style from
the end of the 18th century, has a characteristic circular plan with a
domed vault. On the main façade there is a portico made up of six
columns with Ionic capitals, surmounted by a tympanum enriched by a
dentil frame. Under the portico the façade has an architraved portal
with a frescoed band above. The porch is accessed by a short staircase.
The interior is also frescoed; in the upper band there are various coats
of arms including that of the Bologna family who have owned the complex
since 1861.
16 Church of San Pietro Apostolo, Via Pignattaia Bassa,
Macciano. There has been news of the church since the end of the 14th
century. It has a façade reinforced by corner buttresses, a gable roof
and a bell tower with two bells. The interior, very developed in height,
has a single nave, divided into four bays and with four large windows.
17 Church of the Santissimo Nome di Maria, SP146, Querce al Pino. In
1586, where a tabernacle stood with the image of the Madonna known as
Querce al Pino, the church was built, first entrusted to the Franciscans
and then to the Jesuits. It was restored and enlarged at the end of the
18th century. During the last war the original chapel was almost
destroyed. The building has a terracotta facade profiled in travertine,
a travertine portal, a bell tower with two bells. The interior, with a
single nave, preserves two altars in the transept chapels and the main
altar, with a painting of the Madonna, Santa Mustiola, San Lorenzo and
other saints of the Sienese school of the 18th century. The frescoes in
the right transept depict Saint Francis and Saint Jerome in prayer and
in the lunettes the Annunciation and the Holy Family (17th century).
18 Tomb of Colle Casuccini (east of the town, near the current
cemetery). This Etruscan tomb features frescoes similar to those of the
Tomb of the Monkey and has a plan structured around the access dromos,
with three rooms that open into it and two cells for cinerary urns. The
walls of the atrium are decorated with a continuous frieze with funeral
games (athlete with weights, pyrrhicist, crotalist, boxer, wrestlers,
chariot race) and a banquet scene. On the walls of the back chamber
there are dance scenes (fourteen dancers) among laurel bushes. These
themes are linked to the period of the first archaism (early 6th century
BC), even in the more cosmopolitan Tarquinia. The scenes can be compared
with the bas-reliefs of fetid stone funerary stones in the area.
19
Tomb of the Grand Duke. It is an Etruscan tomb with only a burial
chamber, composed of dry-walled travertine blocks (also on the vault),
with a bench that runs along the entire perimeter and where seven
cinerary urns are placed, with the names of the deceased engraved on the
lids, all belonging to the Pulfna peris family. The dating is later than
other tombs in Chiusi, in fact it dates back to the 2nd century BC.
20 Tomb of the Inscription (about 2 km from the town on the road to Lake
Chiusi, in the necropolis of Poggio Renzo). The tomb, which is not open
to the public, owes its name to the inscription in large letters placed
on a niche dug into the left wall of the rear compartment. It says ein
thun ara enan, which could mean "don't do or put anything here". The
tomb is entirely dug into the sandstone and is surmounted by a small
mound. A long trapezoidal dromos leads to the rooms which are arranged
in a cross around a central rectangular atrium. The inscription room has
a funeral platform and another funeral bed is located in the left
chamber, on the right wall.
21 Tomba del Leone (about 2 km from the
town on the road to Lake Chiusi, in the Poggio Renzo necropolis. Near
the Tomba della Pellegrina). With the Etruscan museum ticket you can
also visit the tomb of the Pellegrina and, upon reservation, the tomb of
the Monkey. Known since at least 1883, it was re-excavated in 1911 to
reproduce the paintings, which are invisible today. It is dated to the
5th century BC. The tomb, which is open to the public, owes its name to
the fresco of two lionesses (or panthers) on the entrance pediment,
which has now disappeared; other frescoes adorned the walls. The plan is
cross-shaped, with three rooms open onto the central atrium and an
entrance dromos, along whose walls there are three niches and two small
rectangular rooms. On the wall opposite the entrance to the bottom
chamber there is a narrow passage that leads to a cylindrical well,
which emerges on the top of the hill. This passage was perhaps used
during the original excavation of the tomb, or perhaps by raiders.
Tomba della Pania (in the Melagrano-La Macchia-Pania area, not far from
the town). It is one of the most ancient burial chambers, dating back to
the 6th century BC, and has a very simple decorative apparatus, while
the furnishings of the two deceased, one buried and one incinerated,
were richer: metal and bucchero furnishings, weapons , glass plague and
above all the famous Pania pyx, a refined ivory jewelery bucket, now
preserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Florence.
22 Tomba
della Pellegrina (about 2 km from the town on the road to Lake Chiusi,
in the necropolis of Poggio Renzo. Near the Tomb of the Lion). With the
Etruscan museum ticket you can also visit the tomb of the Lion and, upon
reservation, the tomb of the Monkey. The tomb, which is open to the
public, belonged to the Sentinates family and dates back to the late
4th-early 3rd century BC. Already looted in ancient times, today it
appears as it was when it was discovered, with five sarcophagi and
twelve urns in alabaster and travertine with the place settings turned
upside down or overturned by the raiders. It is composed of a long
entrance dromos, along which there are four niches and three funerary
chambers. The urn of Larth Sentinates Caesa was found in the central
chamber, today in the National Archaeological Museum of Chiusi.
23
Tomb of the Monkey (about 2 km from the town on the road to Lake Chiusi,
in the necropolis of Poggio Renzo. Next to the Tomb of the Lion). With
the Etruscan museum ticket you can also visit the tomb of the Lion, the
tomb of the Pellegrina and, upon reservation, the tomb of the Monkey.
The hypogeum has a cross plan with three rooms opening onto a central
atrium, as well as a stepped entrance dromos. It is accessed via a
staircase which is not the original, the dromos is in fact buried under
the road. The doors have shaped doors. All the rooms, including the
central one (atrium), have funerary beds carved into the rock, carved in
low relief in the shape of klinai (banquet beds). The ceilings are
coffered, imitating wooden models and partly painted. In the center of
the ceiling in the atrium there is a small female head, while in the
back room there is a vegetal motif with four mermaids at the corners.
The paintings of the tomb, apart from the figures of two men (servants?)
and a bearded snake on the walls of the back chamber, are concentrated
in a band of limited width in the central atrium, above a green plinth.
The decorated band is framed at the bottom by a simple meander, and at
the top by a kyma with small leaves; funeral games are represented. A
dating to the first decades of the 5th century BC has been proposed.
24 Tomb of Poggio al Moro (west of the town of Chiusi). The tomb, made
up of three chambers, features frescoes with dance scenes and funeral
games and can be dated to the second quarter of the 5th century BC.
According to Dennis, it presented scenes of funerary and athletic games
in the first chamber.
25 Poggio Gaiella mound. It is a tomb with a
pillar chamber, attributed to the first half of the 5th century BC, and
is traditionally believed to be the tomb of King Porsenna, who laid
siege to Rome in 506 BC. It is the only mound that has come down to us
from the Chiusi area, and it is one of the largest in the whole of
Etruria. Half of it is the result of a re-adaptation of a natural
relief, with the upper part of the hill composed of filled earth. The
actual tombs are excavated on several levels in the lower part, which
was accessed via a dromos approximately 10 m long and on whose walls
there were two short tunnels that led to partition tombs, dating back to
the end of the 7th century BC. from the left one there was access to a
room with at least fourteen bedrooms in two rows, interspersed with
short corridors. The materials found inside date back to the archaic and
orientalizing era. The decoration of the lacunar ceiling has been
partially preserved, with traces of red colouring, and the original
platforms used as funeral beds (first half of the 5th century BC) can
also be seen.
In the immediate vicinity of the mound, a recent Bronze
Age settlement was discovered, the oldest in the area.
26
Orientalising Style Tomb (not far from the town and the Monkey Tomb). It
is one of the tombs attributed as the oldest, dating back to around 600
BC, due to the use of the technique of applying color directly to the
tuff walls, with an incision as preparation. The plan of the tomb had a
rectangular shape and the single room was divided towards the bottom by
a partition. The paintings, which were visible in the 19th century, have
now disappeared. The ceiling was decorated with a pattern of red
longitudinal lines with black strokes. The paintings on the walls, done
in red and black, represented a series of real and fantastic animals
(winged lions, griffin, winged panther, sphinxes, goose) in an
orientalizing style (hence the name), according to the eclectic
Greek-Italic taste of the era.
27 Tomb of Tassinara (east of the
town, near the catacomb of Santa Mustiola). It is a small quadrangular
chamber with a barrel vault, dug into the sandstone. The walls are
decorated with paintings applied directly on the rock (not frescoes): on
the entrance and back walls you can see two large shields between two
festoons, while the side walls are decorated with depictions of the
deceased with their names and festoons . On the back wall there was a
terracotta sarcophagus, with a male figure modeled on the lid, holding
the "scroll of destiny" in his hand, today preserved in the National
Archaeological Museum of Chiusi.
Ragazzi in Gamba, Piazza XX Settembre 6, ☎ +39 0578392314,
info@ragazzingamba.eu. On weekends in May. National Festival review of
theatre, music, singing, dance, folklore, short film, poetry, painting
and sculpture. Open to schools of all levels and to extracurricular
artistic agencies.
Tria Turris (Three days in the Middle Ages), Via
Lavinia 2, info@triaturris.it. Last weekend of June. The Tria Turris
usually takes place on the occasion of the feast of the patron saint
Santa Mustiola. Inside the Parco dei Forti, a large camp from the late
1300s is reconstructed with jesters, musicians, theater companies,
fire-breathers, knights, flag-wavers, taburians and archers.
Ruzzi
della Conca, Piazza Matteotti 35 (A Chiusi Scalo),
ufficio.contradechiusi@gmail.com. Between the last Sunday of August and
the first of September. I Ruzzi della Conca is an event based on the
game of ball and bracelet, a game from Renaissance Italy in which the
five districts compete: Biffe, Fornace, Granocchiaio, Mar Nero and
Sottogrottone.
Chiusinvetrina, Via Pasubio 7, ☎ +39 0578226632,
info@chiusinvetrina.it. Twice a year in the months of June and December.
Chiusinvetrina is a trade fair event, organized by the traders'
association.
Grape and Wine Festival, Chiusi City, ☎ +39 0578227667,
info@festadelluvaedelvino.com. End of September. Tasting of wines and
typical local products. Traveling performances and shows.
Sbottegando
(Shopping Festival), Chiusi Scalo. Late February-Early March. Branded
products at sale prices.
Pink nights shopping, Chiusi Scalo. First
Thursday and Friday of July. Live music, entertainment, tastings and
above all many shopping opportunities.
Let's free ourselves, Piazza
Vittorio Veneto 6, ☎ +39 0578223080,closepromozione@comune.chiusi.si.it.
Reading appointments for adults and children.
An excellent olive oil is produced in its territory; Chiusi is part of the national association of oil cities.
1 Cantiere 75, Via Leonardo da Vinci 36, ☎ +39 0578227284,
shop@cantiere75.com. Men's clothing
2 Etrusco Shopping Center, Loc.
Querce al Pino, ☎ +39 0578274409, fax: +39 0578275924,
info@centrocommercialetrusco.com. Mon-Sun 9am-8.30pm. It offers over
thirty shops including Pam Superstore, Bata, OVS, Librerie Giunti al
Punto, 7Camicie and Jean Louis David.
3 Calosi Rossano Joie de Vivre,
Via Goffredo Mameli 71/73, ☎ +39 0578226298. 9:00-13:00, 16:00-20:00.
Household items.
4 Osvaldo Pericoli, Via Oslavia 69, ☎ +39
0578226698, fax: +39 0578226698,closed.osvaldopericoli@gmail.com.
9:00-12:30, 16:00-19:30. Footwear.
5 Venturi Sportswear Hobby Moda,
Via Pasubio 19, ☎ +39 057820130, fax: +39 057820130. Mon 9:30-13:00;
Tue-Sat 9.30am-1pm, 4pm-8pm. Sportswear.
6 Pratino, Via Morgantini
59, ☎ +39 0578222244, info@pratino.it. Mon-Tue, Thu-Sat 9:00-13:00,
16:00-19:30; Wed 9am-1pm. Clothing and household linen.
7 Stil-Oro,
Via Leonardo da Vinci 13, ☎ +34 0578227216. Jewellery.
8 Il Gioiello,
Via Leonardo da Vinci 57, ☎ +39 0578 20092. Jewellery.
9 Jessica
Gioielli, Via Isonzo 10, ☎ +39 0578227708. Jewellery.
10 Teleco - 3
Store, Via Isonzo 9, ☎ +39 0578226467. Telephony.
11 Foto Ottica CM,
Via Morgantini 16, ☎ +39 057821477. Photography items.
12 Banca Valdichiana Credito Cooperativo Tosco-Umbro, Via Porsenna
56, ☎ +39 057820039. ATM.
13 Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, Via
Cassia Aurelia, ☎ +39 057820139. ATM.
14 Banca Monte dei Paschi di
Siena, Piazza XX Settembre 9, ☎ +39 057821900. ATM.
15 Post Office,
Via Giuseppe Mazzini 1, ☎ +39 057822471. ATM.
16 Three stars travel and tourism, Piazza Garibaldi 14, fax: +39 057820870. Travel agency.
1 Teatro Mascagni, Via Giuseppe Garibaldi, ☎ +39 0578226273,
biglietteriafondazione@gmail.com. The Pietro Mascagni municipal theater
is the theater of Chiusi.
2 Clev Village, Strada Provinciale 146, 7
Località Querce al Pino, ☎ +39 0578275077, info@clevillage.it. Recent
commercial films. Multiplex with restaurant in a small shopping center.
3 La Bussola Inn, Strada Provinciale 146 "di Chianciano" (Località
Macciano), ☎ +39 0578274038, fax: +39 0578274448, info@labussolainn.it.
Nightclub.
Average prices
1 Zaira Restaurant, Via Arunte 12, ☎ +39 057820260,
info@zaira.it. Tue-Sun 12:00-14:30, 19:00-23:30; Closed Mon. Located in
the historic center, it was born in 1910. Its cellar was entirely
created in the underlying Etruscan tunnels.
2 La Solita Zuppa, Via
Porsenna 21, ☎ +39 057821006, info@lasolitazuppa.it. The typical dish of
the restaurant is Cinghiale in Salmì.
3 Trattoria Porsenna, Via
Michelangelo Buonarroti 43, ☎ +39 057821393, info@trattoriaporsenna.it.
Local and regional home cooking with typical dishes, such as handmade
pici with duck ragù, pappardelle with hare ragù and spelled soup.
4
Il bucchero Restaurant, Via Bonci, 28, ☎ +39 0578 222092. Restaurant
with Tuscan cuisine. There is an internal courtyard where it is pleasant
to eat in summer.
Average prices
1 Albergo La Sfinge, Via Porsenna 2, ☎ +39
057820157, fax: +39 057820157, info@associazionelasfinge.it. Located in
the historic center, it is a small hotel with only 15 rooms, all with
private shower and facilities.
2 Hotel Centrale, Piazza Dante
Alighieri 3, ☎ +39 057820118, fax: +39 057820118,
hotelcentralechiusi@libero.it. Located opposite the train station, it is
the oldest hotel in Chiusi.
3 I Longobardi, Via Leonardo da Vinci 59,
☎ +39 057820115, fax: +39 057820709. Located near the train station.
4 Albergo La Rosetta Chiusi - Siena, Via Goffredo Mameli, 59 (A Chiusi
airport, not far from the station), ☎ +39057820077.
Chiusi is a municipality that occupies the south-eastern sector of
the province of Siena and Tuscany, on the border with Umbria (province
of Perugia).
It is located at an altitude of 398 m above sea
level. in the middle of the Sienese Valdichiana.
It borders to
the north with Montepulciano, to the north-east with Castiglione del
Lago (PG), to the east with Città della Pieve (PG), to the south with
Cetona, to the south-west with Sarteano and to the west with Chianciano
Terme.
Seismic classification: zone 2 (medium-high seismicity), Ordinance PCM 3274 of 03/20/2003
Climate classification: zone D, 2022 GR/G
Atmospheric diffusivity:
high, Ibimet CNR 2002
The first
substantial archaeological evidence traces the first settlement in
the area back to the Iron Age, with rich funerary objects starting
from the eighth century BC.
The Etruscan city of Clevsins,
which later became the Latin Clusium (Klysion, Κλύσιον in ancient
Greek), was of fundamental importance, since it was located on the
artery that connected Rome to northern Etruria, following the Tiber
and its main tributary, the Clanis , being the extremely fertile
valley floor of the homonymous valley.
The first written
records of Chiusi date back to Hellenism, when, in a document by
Polybius, the name of the city of Chiusi appears in relation to the
invasions of the Celts. Then follow the tales about characters like
Arunte and the famous lucumone Chiusino Porsenna.
Servius
describes Chiusi as one of the oldest Etruscan cities, founded by
Cluso, son of Tyrrhenian according to some legends, son of
Telemachus, son of Ulysses according to others. However, the ancient
authors remember it as an ancient and powerful city and praise the
fertility of the soil. The Etruscan settlement developed on the
three hills on which the medieval and modern city was built.
However, it is very likely that the ancient inhabited area of the
Chiusina capital extended well beyond the current historic center
which, today, appears so limited following the subsequent decline of
the late medieval and Renaissance periods. On closer inspection,
Chiusi stands on a hill overlooking the valley of the ancient Clanis
river, at the meeting point between the Clanis and today's Val di
Tresa, that is, at the point where the waters coming from Trasimeno
met the Clanis (prior to the construction of the Roman emissary of
S. Savino), and was a strategic place in the Clanis basin (today Val
di Chiana).
The territory of the city-state of Chiusi (ager
Clusinus, in Latin) was extremely vast, so much so that it included
a part of the Trasimeno (which was the border between the
city-states of Chiusi, Cortona and Perugia), Mount Cetona, Mount
Amiata, Mount Arale, Val d'Orcia and, ultimately, a part of today's
provinces of Grosseto, Perugia, Siena, Terni and to a lesser extent
Arezzo.
The centrality of Chiusi was also characterized by
the fact that it was located on a commercial route that from inland
Etruria, through the Tolle pass, entered the Val d'Orcia and from
there it was easy to reach the sea through the towpaths of the Orcia
and of the Ombrone. The Tolle pass, just 10 km from the Chiusi hill
and in direct visual contact with it, was the ideal place for the
manhole control of the Val d'Orcia and the so-called maritime route,
and in particular for the customs clearance of travelers' goods,
especially those coming from nearby Orvieto; in fact, those who
(coming from the South) wanted to go north towards Roselle were
forced to cross the territory of the city-state of Chiusi and to
leave part of their goods to those who controlled the roads.
In the seventh century BC the burial rite was introduced and the
chamber tombs with pillars spread.
In the sixth century BC
Chiusi became one of the most important cities of the Etruscan
dodecapolis, excelling among the Etruscan populi, especially at the
time of the lucumone Porsenna. The first certain contacts with the
newborn Rome date back to this period, when an alliance of Chiusi
with Arezzo, Volterra, Vetulonia and Roselle (the current Grosseto)
came to the aid of the Latins to defeat Tarquinio Prisco. Among the
chamber tombs of the period, the tumulus of Poggio Gaiella stands
out, perhaps used for the powerful king Lucumone Porsenna, who put
Rome under siege in 506 BC. and that, probably, it dominated other
Etruscan cities such as nearby Orvieto, so much so that it became
"king", as Livio points out. The maximum splendor of the city dates
back to this period, with the birth of an upper-middle class, whose
members were buried in articulated tombs, dug into the sandstone.
Chiusi also became a large import center from Attica, which served
as a sorting place for all of internal Etruria. Besides the Greek
products, a consistent local production also developed, where that
of bucchero stands out.
The 5th century BC is testified by the sculptural production in
fetid stone, extracted on site, while it was necessary to wait for
the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century BC. to see
the birth of the manufacture of the typical sarcophagi and urns,
especially in alabaster and alabaster marble. In the second century
there was also the production of terracotta cinerary urns.
After the defeat of the Etruscan league by the Romans (III BC)
Etruria was progressively Romanized and the Etruscan city of Chiusi
continued to govern itself with its own laws and to be administered
by Etruscan noble families, linked to the Roman aristocracy, which
allowed the construction of Roman infrastructures such as the
consular Cassia (2nd century BC) and river ports along the Clanis,
for the benefit of the emerging Roman power. In the year 87 BC
Clusium became an important Roman municipality, corresponding the
Ager Clusinum to the size of the extinct city-state, and its
inhabitants were probably and to a large extent settled, among other
things, in the valley, along the consular Cassia and the navigable
Clanis, parallel and adjacent. Chiusi also continued to be a nodal
point along the so-called via marittima, and was also the point of
arrival of the consular Amerina, which from the Baccano station
(north of Rome) reached Clusium through a path that wound through
Amelia, Todi and Perugia.
At the time of the Emperor Hadrian,
a passageway of the Cassia was built, at the height of Acquaviva,
which connected the municipality of Chiusi with the Sienese colony
(Sena Iulia). In 107 the so-called Traiana Nova consular was
completed which connected Bolsena (Volsinii Novi) with Chiusi,
without passing through Orvieto (abandoned after the Etruscan
defeat) and whose milestones exceptionally did not indicate the
distance from Rome but from the borders of Chiusi (a fines
Clusinorum), this municipality and its ager were so important. With
the creation of these roads, the centrality of Chiusi in northern
Etruria was considerably accentuated. The command of the Quarta
Legio (fourth legion) was probably stationed in Chiusi and there
were certainly important port infrastructures along the navigable
river, where the copious cereals of the Clanis valley were stored,
processed and then transported to Rome (which in the imperial age
counted almost one million inhabitants) by means of river boats.
It is thanks to the centrality of Chiusi, located along the
consular roads (arrival point of Amerina) and rivers, and in
particular thanks to its Etruscan origins (which made the Chiusini
open to new cultures and religions) that the Christians, persecuted
in Rome, fled from there and took refuge in large numbers in the
municipality of Chiusi, so much so that in Chiusi there are still
two early Christian catacombs, both located along the consular,
namely S. Caterina along the Via Cassia and Santa Mustiola (patron
saint of the city) located along the Amerina, a few hundred meters
from the Roman bridge over the Clanis, currently buried by
sediments. In fact, there are traces of bishops in Chiusi, at least
from the 2nd century AD.
The body of the martyr Santa
Mustiola (from a noble family, who fleeing from Rome reached Chiusi
through the consular Amerina), already deposited in the homonymous
catacomb, in the 4th century AD. it was moved to the basilica
dedicated to her, placed above said catacomb, and placed in a
limestone sarcophagus (today visible in the cathedral of Chiusi, at
the beginning of the left aisle, on which a marble plaque was placed
in the 18th century). Also in the 4th century AD, to protect the
catacombs from the barbarian invasions, their entrances were buried,
so much so that they have only been rediscovered in recent times as
they can now be visited. During the barbarian invasions the consular
Aurelia and Flaminia became largely impassable and some strategic
bridges over the Tiber were demolished, such as the one along the
Flaminia (interrupted) which was located near the town hall of
Otricoli (Ocricolum). Therefore, the Via Cassia, along which the
capital of Chiusi was located, became an artery of increased
importance.
When in 476 Odoacer returned the imperial insignia to the Roman
emperor of the East, Chiusi continued to be a capital, probably
ruled by Goth dignitaries who, in the Chiusina judicial seat,
applied the normative collection called Lex Romana Wisigothorum
which was a great success in loco , so much so that it was used
there until the twelfth century. During the two Gothic Wars (6th
century), the Byzantines and the Goths fought for the conquest of
the coveted city, and great interest must have been in its control
if Vitige left a garrison of a thousand men there. During the short
Byzantine period the reconstruction of what had been destroyed was
carried out, and the Byzantines erected stupendous cathedrals in
important Italian capitals such as Chiusi (where there was a
metropolitan bishop) and Rome, similar to that of S. Apollinare in
Ravenna. In the main hill of Chiusi, on the perimeter of an early
Christian basilica, the basilica of San Secondiano was built (whose
beautiful columns come from the temple of Venus on the hill of the
same name. The completion of the basilica probably dates back to
565, at the time of Bishop Florentinus , as evidenced by an
inscription placed in the pulvinus of a column inside S. Secondiano.
When the Lombards came to Italy, in 568, they made Chiusi a
duchy, probably being one of the first Chiusi dukes, the famous
"Lombard gold" (Faolfus) found in the 19th century in the Arcisa
area, during an excavation at the foot of the altar of a Lombard
church. The Longobard duchy of Chiusi controlled the western borders
of the so-called Byzantine corridor and southern Tuscia, being much
larger than the ancient ager of Chiusi; in fact it also included
Cortona, Arezzo, Chiusi della Verna (Clusi Novi), upper Lazio up to
the Mignone stream (including Viterbo and Bolsena), the entire
current province of Grosseto and most of today's provinces of
Perugia, Terni ( including Orvieto) and Siena. The diocese of
Populonia, which was in great decline at the time, was the buffer
between the Chiusi and Lucca duchies. There were numerous attempts
by the Dukes of Chiusi and Spoleto to conquer the nearby Byzantine
territories, so much so that in 593 the Lombards of Chiusi conquered
a further strip of present-day Umbria.
The basilica of Santa
Mustiola, renovated in the 8th century by the Chiusi duke Gregorio
(nephew of the Lombard king Liutprando who, for some years,
simultaneously held the duchy of Benevento in the emergency to
replace a usurper), was probably the mother church (Lombard) of the
Arian rite, being the Cathedral of San Secondiano the (Catholic)
mother church of the Chiusi duchy.
Also in the eighth century
the Franks conquered Italy and tried in vain to tame the excessive
power of the Lombard dukes of Chiusi and Spoleto to the point that
Paolo Diacono, on the impulse of Charlemagne, (re) wrote the history
of the Lombards where, not to chance, there is no mention of Chiusi
or Spoleto. At the end of the eighth century, the Roman pontiff
complained of raids and looting by the Duke of Chiusi to the
detriment of Rome and the Roman ager.
In 814 the emperor
Ludovico il Pio, in an attempt to limit the overwhelming power of
the Lombard families of the Chiusina area, donated a part of the
Trasimeno (formerly Chiusino) to the Roman pontiff, remaining said
donation, for some centuries, "dead letter". From a document of that
period it is also clear that Castiglione della Pescaia (GR)
belonged, until then, to the publicum of Chiusi.
After the
epoch of the dukes, during the Carolingian domination, for a good
part of the 9th century Chiusi was a capital (Gastaldato) governed
by a Gastald directly dependent on the emperor, being the borders of
the Gastaldato more limited than those of the former Duchy always
wide.
Since the end of the 9th century the two great powers
of Central Italy are the Duchy of Spoleto and the Marquisate of
Tuscia based in Lucca, whose southern brand is headed by Chiusi.
In 932, following a Saracen invasion in which the territory of
Roselle was sacked, the Aldobrandeschi (perhaps of Salic origin)
settled in Sovana and began to dominate a large territory that until
that moment was largely headed in Chiusi.
With the imperial Ottonian dynasty (second half of the 10th
century) the cities of Arezzo, Chiusi, Perugia, Siena and Orvieto
were freed, aiming to break away from the powerful Lucca marquisate.
However, unlike the historic capital of Chiusi (seat of an ancient
diocese with a metropolitan bishop, hosting a prestigious school of
liberal arts) which possessed a vast territory, the emerging
neighboring city-states aspired to grow by taking possession of ever
larger strips of the countryside. di Chiusi, as their aims are
supported by imperial politics.
Bloody and long wars then
began between the neighboring cities, in particular between Chiusi
and Perugia (second half of the 10th century) for the control of the
Trasimeno and, in particular, between Chiusi and Orvieto, being
Chiusi (which was forced into wars "of defense ") supported by
Arezzo and Siena, which in turn aimed to take over the
central-northern ager of Chiusi.
From the end of the 10th
century, in pre-communal times, the capital of the Chiusina County
was often occupied and dominated by families, such as the Bovacciani
counts, supported by the emerging city-state of Orvieto, with
alternating events.
In 1052-1055, after having conquered the
southern ridges of the County of Chiusi, the Orvietani, supported by
the Germanic imperial policy, completed a mammoth dam on the Clanis
river (which had a low slope) called Muro Grosso, flooding the
entire Chiusino valley floor to several kilometers and creating a
gigantic artificial lake (so-called Chiane), which, among other
things, submerged and buried the structures and river bridges over
the Clanis, as well as the Via Cassia and any other structure and
settlement that was located in the valley floor. This devastating
and irreversible event isolated Chiusi which for this reason began
to lose control over the territory that was on the other side of the
mammoth stretch of water (Chiane), a territory that will be
progressively dominated by ecclesiastical bodies from the
Cortona-Arezzo area and by settlers Perugia, while in the south the
pressure from Orvieto is strong and in the north-west the Sienese
one.
From the end of the 11th century and for almost the
whole of the 12th century, despite the difficulties, we are
witnessing a flourishing, including architectural, of the city of
Chiusi and in particular of its bishopric, which deals hard blows to
some nobles of the district linked to the city -state of Orvieto,
and repossessed ecclesiastical entities, in its own countryside,
which it had previously lost control of, even east of the Chiane. In
1111, in the face of a donation by Emperor Henry V made to the
papacy of Pasquale II in exchange for the imperial coronation, the
county-diocese of Chiusi was split in two by the border line of the
Patrimony of San Pietro, advanced to the north, being the Chiusino
bishop forced into a policy of continuous mediation. It is in this
period that we witness a great splendor of the Chiusina school of
liberal arts, which was located in the Claustrum Sancti Secundiani
Clusini Episcopatus, in which theologians-jurists of great level
worked such as the famous Gratian, author of the original version of
Concordia discordantium canonun , better known as Decretum or
Decretum Gratiani, who, from the end of the twenties of the twelfth
century was also bishop of Chiusi.
At the end of the 12th
century, with the death of the emperor of the Holy German Empire
Henry VI and with the first great wave of malaria (1191), Chiusi
weakened to the point of being reconquered for the umpteenth time by
the city-state of Orvieto, while to the east of the Chiane the
settlers of the city-state of Perugia definitively occupy the
eastern area of the Chiusina county, the so-called Chiugi
Perugino.