Discover Necropoli del Poggino

The necropoli del Poggino is an Etruscan necropolis near Fonterutoli, in the comune of Castellina in Chianti.

It occupies a hill used as a cemetery by an Etruscan community that inhabited the territory from the end of the 7th century BC until the 5th. Visit Tuscany places it inside a grove in the locality of Fonterutoli and dates the necropolis to the 6th century BC — the middle of that range.

Five tombs have been identified: four chamber tombs and one chest tomb. All were looted by tomb robbers in past ages. The four visible today have a monumental structure and are joined to one another by a path that winds through the wood.

The finds that survived — above all two Attic black-figure amphorae from tomb 1 — are in the Museo Archeologico del Chianti in Castellina, which reads this necropolis alongside the tumulo di Montecalvario as evidence of the Etruscan princes of the Chianti.

Two types stand side by side here, and the difference is the subject. Tombs 1 and 3 are articulated: a dromos, a vestibule, and multiple chambers. Tombs 2 and 4 are single-chamber, with no dromos at all.

The dromos is the signature element. Of the a schiena d'asino type — donkey-backed, humped in section — driven into the hillside so the tomb is entered horizontally rather than from above.

Tomb 3 has a cruciform plan. The long dromos opens into a vestibule, and the vestibule gives onto three cells arranged in a cross, with a smaller room beyond, at the back of the tomb, which held a second burial chamber. Its entrance threshold is still standing, and a doorway bounded by a pair of large travertine slabs leads into the rear cell.

The roofs were corbelled, not vaulted. The covering of tomb 1 was probably made of slabs arranged in steps, supported by the central pillar; tomb 2 was internally of the same stepped kind. In tomb 3 travertine was used especially for the central pillar that acted as the load-bearing element for the dome.

The plan of tomb 3 changed while the Etruscans were still using it. Its main chamber was very probably modified in the Etruscan period: the left-hand part, where the sarcophagus presumably lay, appears to have been created later in order to enlarge the burial chamber.

Doors were slabs. The lost door of tomb 1 must have been closed by a stone slab, and since these tombs could be used more than once, a hinged system is imaginable. In tomb 2 the two stones that framed the door still stand; in tomb 4 a surviving travertine block does the same job of showing where the door was.

Three stones, chosen for different work. Alberese is the local limestone, grey to pale yellow, smooth-surfaced. Travertine was probably imported from other areas of the territory of Siena — a deliberate choice, brought in for the parts that mattered. A third limestone, porous and rough to the touch, makes up the rest.

Travertine went where the load was. In tomb 3 it is used widely and especially in the central pillar that served as the load-bearing element for the dome, and a pair of large travertine slabs frame the door of the rear cell. In tomb 4, a travertine block is what still stands.

The roof is a pillar-and-corbel problem. With no arch, the chambers were covered by slabs laid in receding steps, the weight carried down onto the pillar at the centre. In tomb 1 that pillar has been put back in its original position, which makes the structural logic visible.

The approach was cut into the hill. The donkey-back dromos is excavated rather than built, which is why it survives: it is below the level of everything that was piled over the chambers.

The modern repairs are signed. For the restoration of tomb 3's walls, yellow tufa was used precisely so the new work could be told from the old. Nothing here pretends to be older than it is.

Can I visit it, and does it cost anything?

Yes, and no. The regional tourist board states that the necropolis can be visited freely. There is no ticket, no attendant and no published opening hour.

How many tombs are there?

Five identified — four chamber tombs and one chest tomb — of which four are visible today, joined by a path through the wood.

How old are they?

The community buried here from the end of the 7th century BC until the 5th. Tomb 3 is the oldest and tomb 4 the most recent; Visit Tuscany dates the necropolis as a whole to the 6th century BC.

Which tomb should I look at hardest?

Tomb 3. It is the largest and the oldest, with a long donkey-back dromos, a vestibule, three cells in a cross and a rear cell, and its size and grave goods allow it to be attributed to a family of princely rank.

Why is some of the stone a different colour?

Deliberately. The rebuilt walls of tomb 3 use yellow tufa so that restoration can be told from original masonry.

Is there anything left inside?

No. All five tombs were robbed long ago. The surviving finds — a cinerary urn, incised ivory plaques, bronze vessel fragments and two Attic black-figure amphorae — are in the museum in Castellina.

How far is it from Castellina?

It is out at Fonterutoli, south of the town on the Chiantigiana. Not a walk from the square.