Yes, you read that right! There is an ancient town in Lazio, right by edge of Tuscany, called Tuscania. On a recent road trip to Maremma from Rome, we stopped by to see the ancient churches in the small town. It is a place I would love to revisit, to see some of the Etruscan finds.

Until the late 19th century the town was known as Toscanella.

According to the legend, Tuscania was founded by Aeneas’ son, Ascanius, where he had found twelve dog pups (whence the Etruscan name Tus-Cana, cana being similar to Latin canis for “dog”). Another legend attributes the foundation to one Tusco, son of Hercules and Araxes.

Evidence of human presence in the area dates from the Neolithic age, but probably the city proper was founded in the 7th century BC when the acropolis on St. Peter’s Hill was surrounded by a line of walls. Villages existed in the vicinity. In the following years its strategic position gave Tuscania a leading role in the Etruscan world. After the defeat of the coastal cities by the Greeks (4th century BC), Tuscania also became a maritime trade centre through the port of Regas (next to today’s Montalto di Castro). There is no record of Tuscania being involved in the battles that led to the Roman conquest of the Etruscan northern Lazio (280 BC), as the city probably entered into the Roman orbit peacefully. The agricultural development and construction of the Via Clodia further boosted the economic situation of the city. It became a municipium in 88 BC.

Middle Ages and Renaissance
In the 5th century AD (or earlier, depending on the source), Tuscania became one of the first bishopric sees in Italy.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it fell to the Lombards in 569 or 574. In 781 it became part of the Papal States. In 967–1066 it was a fief of the Anguillara family and then of the marquises of Tuscany. In 1081 it was besieged by Emperor Henry IV.

In the following century it became a free commune with authority over a wide territory, including numerous castles. The inner struggles within Tuscania led to a loss of prestige, in favour of the nearby Viterbo, which was made a diocese in 1192, formally on split-off territory, but virtually achieved a transfer by immediate, constant personal union under Viterbo’s bishops until the 1896 former merger of the Tuscania bishopric (as it had been renamed in 1911) into the Viterbo diocese. In 1222 St. Francis of Assisi visited.

During the struggle between the Guelphs and Ghibellines throughout the Holy Roman Empire, it was captured by Frederick II of Hohenstaufen on March 2, 1240, and provided with a line of walls.

A failed military expedition against Pope Boniface VIII (early 14th century), led to the submission to Rome, with the pejorative name of Tuscanella. In 1348–49 a bubonic plague struck Tuscania very hard. Shortly thereafter, in 1354, Cardinal Gil Alvarez De Albornoz definitively returned the town to the Papal States.

In 1421 it became a county under the condottiero Angelo Broglio da Lavello.

In 1495 it was ravaged by the French troops of King Charles VIII during his march towards the Kingdom of Naples, much thanks to the destruction of the walls ordered by Cardinal Giovanni Vitelleschi in reply to the continual internecine struggles and public riots. Thereafter the city experienced a long decline which lasted until the annexation to the new unified Kingdom of Italy in 1870.

In the 19th century the local Campanari family spearheaded the exploration of Etruscan tombs. They organized the first Etruscan exhibition in London. Many of the valuable discoveries ended up in various European museums, as well as Tuscania’s own Archeological Museum.

On February 6, 1971 an earthquake caused 31 deaths. The town has been meticulously restored since, and the historic quarter is substantial, completely surrounded by the medieval city walls that offer excellent views over the surrounding countryside and the church of St Peter.

The church, my pictures of which are above and below is the dedicated to Santa Maria Maggiore. The facade of the Romanesque Basilica has three finely decorated portals.

A church named Santa Maria Maggiore is first documented here in a Papal bull from the year 852 from Pope Leo IV to the Bishop of Tuscania—records of a consecration date to 1206. The church has been reconstructed many times over the centuries.

The facade has three distinctive and finely decorated medieval portals. The central one is flanked by two spiral-fluted marble columns nestled on two “lion” bases, and topped by an animal figure. These enclose four thinner columns receding backwards, each with their individual capital, generally Corinthian in appearance but some contain human figures. In the pilasters flanking the door stand two figures of the Apostles Peter and Paul, partly rebuilt after an act of vandalism. In the lunette are rectangular bas-reliefs, somewhat haphazardly assembled, depicting the Madonna and Child Blessing and images of Balaam, the Sacrifice of Isaac, and the Agnus Dei-like archetype. The right portal is decorated with classically inspired foliage, while the arch on the left features an ornament of the Sicilian-Norman style. At the top is spread between a lion and a griffin, and the loggia above the entrance has nine columns and ten arches.

The interior is on a nave and two aisles, divided by columns with sculpted capitals. The semicircular apse is covered by pilasters and bands of arches. The interior has columns and pillars with Romanesque capitals also carved with plant and zoomorphic motifs. Along the walls of the aisles are blind arches that enclose blind arcades of half-pillars. The sanctuary is flanked by two transverse arches; the frontal of the altar, surmounted by a Gothic ciborium. There is a bishop’s chair, which consists of a parapet of the eighth and ninth centuries.

In the right aisle is located a 13th-century octagonal baptismal immersion pool. In the nave is a pulpit of the thirteenth century. The apse contains a 13th-century fresco depicting Twelve Apostles; a 14th-century fresco in the chancel arch of the apse depicts San Secondiano and the Last Judgement. This has been attributed to Gregorio and Donato D’Arezzo. One bell tower dates to the 12th century. The church is property of the Ministry for Architectural Structures of the Province of Rome, Rieti and Viterbo.

If I were forced to name my favorite museum in Rome, I would say without hesitation: the Galleria Borghese! It is unbelievably rich in artwork including knock-your-socks-off Baroque masterworks of painting and sculpture; is small enough to actually see pretty much everything on one visit (though I recommend many visits, as often as you can, as many times as you can!); and the location is supreme!

Here it is on a recent Sunday evening. The Galleria was closed, but the park and gardens surrounding it were open to enjoy freely and believe me, I did just that!

And yet, for all its glory, the Galleria is not the only thing to behold! The immediate grounds that surround the fabulous building are very attractive and I am featuring them here today from my recent walk.

I hope you can hear the crunch of the gravel as I walk around the landscape! It’s a sound I love!

I highly recommend spending as much time as you can at this remarkable place, both inside the Galleria and outside! You will come away much richer in experience if you can get there!

American country-western line dancing on the street in my borgo was high on the list! And yet: behold!

He was a lot of trouble! Living with him was like living in an Italian opera! But, he was a fabulous cook and I look back with some fondness!

The almost brand-new subway stop in Rome for the Colosseo is every bit as sophisticated as the most current art museum!

The videos I am showing you are not half of the value of the explanations of the discoveries made during the building of this new subway stop!

But it is a start at demonstrating the excellence of the content and format for the delivery of fascinating information, much of it based on discoveries made during the building of the underground train system.

At the top of the beautiful Spanish Steps sits this lovely church. I don’t think I’ve ever been inside it! But it offers splendid views of the city. The obelisk that sits in its piazza was found in the Horti Sallustiani, about which I have recently posted. See: The ancient gardens of Sallust.

I have always relished that fact that in Italy, if there is a place to gather, there will be a small bar or at least a kiosk or food truck with some kind of refreshment available.

And in this beautiful park, the Villa Borghese, this little cafe was a darling sight to behold. I love the bright red striped umbrellas and the metal structure and hanging lights. This is what Italy is to me. Comfort, delight, always available.

Designed by painter-architect Federico Zuccari, the Palazzo Zuccari in Rome has as its entrance a gaping stone mouth—an example of late-Renaissance fascination with the grotesque, illusion, and theatrical façades. Built near the Spanish Steps, the house was conceived as a personal statement where architecture performs as art.

Today, this once-provocative portal is part of the Bibliotheca Hertziana (Max Planck Institute for Art History), giving Rome’s most playful doorway an unexpectedly scholarly afterlife.

I’m took these photos on a recent evening in Roma.

Even the windows are human shaped. At night they are most effective!

I am and always have been in love with this doorway!

Trying so hard to capture the cupola in the twilight.

Alla prossima! I’ll keep trying until I get it right!