Visit to Chiusi

Visit to Chiusi

(photos: street in Chiusi and rosemary growing over the town wall)

On Sunday we went to visit the small midieval town of Chiusi, south towards Rome. Along with more spectacular architecture and antiquity, we had the opportunity to tour some catacombss and the national Etruscan museum.
The catacombs were built/excavated during the time that the Christians were persecuted during the Roman era (estimated to be around 300 – 400 AD).

At first they were probably begun as a single set of burial sites for a noble family, because the Romans demanded cremation for funerals and the Christians wanted to bury the bodies underground to wait for the resurrection. When the Romans began to persecute the Christians, the area was excavated to include burial sites for others in the community and also an area was hollowed out to serve as a

church for secret worship service

It was also used to hide people during the Roman era, and again during WWII. It is dank and damp, with many, many coffin-like graves and Latin writings carved into the stones. There are a few bones still lying around and still bodies down there. Tunnels go out in several directions. I just felt a great weight of sadness when I was down there.
The Etruscan museum was awesome… It was filled with pottery and bronze relics from 1500 BC through Roman times. The pottery floored me… to see the same forms and types of decorations that I do myself, with the marks of hands across thousands of years… the most vital of all items to tell us about history and the lives of other cultures. I could barely tear myself away. I was entranced. I also got some great handle and form ideas that I can apply to my work to reference the ancient styles.