|
|
Chiusi, our view of Tuscany.
It is the small Tuscan hill top town of Chiusi that greets me every morning, standing brave and fair above the terraced countryside. We face each other, through the changing seasons and shifts of light across a fertile valley.
Chiusi’s mysterious origins date back to the 6th century before Christ, when Chiusi was one of the 12 most important cities in the Etruscan Federation. The town itself rises up from it’s legacy, a warren of underground subways, tombs and passages. Towards the end of WWII it was these secret hiding places that sheltered locals and escaped prisoners of war until they were led, blinking and terrified, out into the sunshine by the American forward reconnaissance of 1944.
 
The solid bell tower and the Duomo, San Secondiano, one of the earliest churches in Italy are further evidence of Chiusi’s ancient past, built almost entirely of borrowed and stolen Etruscan and Roman fragments. With a wonderful waste-not-want-not mentality, Roman columns have been cut and braced alongside carved Etruscan stones turned on their sides or upside down, perhaps purposely to ward of the pagan spirits. The Duomo, in it’s quiet piazza, suffused in golden light is a worthwhile visit with it’s mock Byzantine mosaics (amazing decorative paint work circa 1915) and it’s underground secrets.
If you are an Etruscan enthusiast (and even if you’re not) the Museo Archeologico Nazionale has a subtle lure. It’s a rather informal jumble of Etruscan atefacts, in which urns and beautifully carved and painted sarcophagi jostle for attention. The museum's dapper curator gives an animated tour of the museum, which includes the nearby tombs at Lago di Chiusi.
 
What really strikes me about Chiusi is the superbly clashing juxtaposition of architectural styles. The severe 1920’s Teatro Communale with it’s fading stucco and the curving glass of a Deco-style Galleria besides the turn of the century fake Roman columns of the Museo. They are somehow all in perfect union with the soft aged stone of the Duomo and it’s tower in the lovely piazza.
Chiusi is a very ‘real’ Italian town, set in the landscape of pure Tuscany. Opposite the Museo there is a little gravelled park with a fountain and a kiosk selling caffe, the local old boys sit at the iron tables playing cards and ladies chat in the shade. In the rosy light of evening children rush about playing football in the square, using the ancient Cathedral columns as goalposts.
 
This is one of my favourite places to come for an aperitivo or after dinner gelato. I usually walk the length of via Porsenna (the main street), maybe stopping at the butcher’s to pick up tomorrow’s dinner or chatting to the lady in the forno, but my real destination is always Café Venezia, with it’s luscious handmade cold stuff.
You won’t go hungry in Chiusi as there are several good restaurants; from pizzas at Osteria Etrusca to a wonderful Tuscan feast at the delectable La Solita Zuppa. Eating in this trattoria is a real experience, the theatrical owners glide between the tables like culinary ice dancers producing dish after dish of exquisite Tuscan food. They are passionate about their menu and it’s best to go with the flow and enjoy the floorshow.
 
As the night deepens and the ghosts of the Etruscans flit about like fireflies Chiusi is a comforting sight in the landscape, lit by the moon and a circlet of pearly lights, strung around her weathered walls.
The lower town of Chiusi Scalo suffered much bombing during WWII, in an effort to obliterate the railway lines which then, as now, where a major transport hub opening up the whole of Italy. With routes to Naples in the south via Rome and out to Siena, Orvieto, Arezzo, Cortona, Montepulciano and northwards to Milan. It is a testament to the bravery of these towns and their inhabitants that, despite heavy attack from both the allies and later retreating German forces, the lines were kept running for the duration of the war. During the final months of mayhem as the liberating allies forged through central Italy there was intense fighting for the control of Chiusi and it is a miracle that so much of the old Tuscan town survived.
Today, Chiusi Scalo is a busy modern town which great transport links, a lively local market and good food shopping.
Amanda Hyzler 2008
|
|
|
